From First to Last
by Kiara Avalon
Summary: Sirius gave a low whistle. 'Sneaky little vixen, your bird Evans.' A part of James was relieved that they'd caught on before she followed them into the Shrieking Shack. But another part, a greater part, had never been more attracted to Lily Evans... - LJ novel, spanning life during Hogwarts & onward.
1. The First

_**Disclaimer**__: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. In order to make my story seem more authentic, I have literally cut and pasted direct scenes from Rowling's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. These scenes are clearly italicized, and are properly referenced that the end of the chapter._

* * *

"_**Very whitely still the lilies of our lives may reassure their blossoms from their roots, accessible alone to heavenly dews that drop not fewer; growing straight out of man's reach, on the hill."**_

_**- Elizabeth Barrett Browning**_

* * *

Harry Potter looked up at the ruins of an old cottage. The last time he was visited this place, he was nearly killed by Voldemort. Harry touched the gate gently, and as it had done so before, a sign began to rise from the ground:

_On this spot, on the night of 31 October 1981,_

_Lily and James Potter lost their lives._

_Their son, Harry, remains the only wizard ever_

_To have survived the Killing Curse_

_This house, invisible to Muggles have been left_

_In its ruined state as a monument to the Potters_

_And as a reminder of the violence_

_That tore apart their family._

Harry read the sign once more, as well as the graffiti that had been written upon it, and smiled. He gently pushed open the gate and entered the yard. It hadn't been safe to enter the area before, as Hermione had stated. But now that Voldemort was dead, any curses that may have been caused by him would be broken.

Harry surveyed the area around him. Had he, as a child explored this area? Had he once played in the grass? Had he ridden his toy broomstick here? Harry walked carefully toward the front door. It was no longer a door. It was clear that it had been blasted off its hinges to the ground. The remains lay on the ground, burnt, black and broken. He walked into the house and recognised the hall immediately.

A flash of memory made him realise that this was the place his father had died. Harry closed his eyes, unwilling to take in the scene. At least the body was removed, he thought. He wouldn't be able to handle it if he had to see his father's dead body as well as imagine it.

Harry looked up. There was a gaping hole in the ceiling. This was probably where the Killing Curse had rebounded. Harry decided not to go upstairs. The floor didn't look very stable, after all. Furthermore, Harry could not bear to see the place where his mother had died.

Harry looked at the ground. There was a small piece of parchment lying directly below the hole in the ceiling. He reached over and picked it up, noticing that it was scorched at the sides.

_Spell-proof parchment_, he realised. But however spell-proof it was, it had still been damaged by the ricocheted Killing curse.

On the parchment were words that were quite obviously scribbled in a hurry, but it was neat all the same. Harry read the words silently. He smiled, then looked up, wondering about his parents. How had _their_ lives been growing up? He looked back at the note in his hands. Had his mother and father gone through what _he_ had? They both had to face Voldemort. But how were their lives different than his?

* * *

'Lily! Lily, are you awake?'

Lily Evans woke up, hearing the sounds of her elder sister pounding on the door.

'Coming, Tuney!' she called. She got out of bed and reached for the flower that she had found yesterday and placed on her bedside table. She brought it close to her, smelling it with a grin.

_That's odd_, she thought suddenly with a gasp. Did the petals… _move_? Lily turned and glanced at the open window behind her, then replaced the flower on her table. Must have been the wind, she decided as she got up to open the door.

A little girl a bit older than Lily stood there, smiling and carrying a parcel in her hands. She was slightly taller than Lily, with short, blond hair.

'Happy seventh birthday, Lily!' the girl exclaimed, holding out the parcel eagerly.

Lily took the parcel gently in her hands and hugged her sister, smiling hugely. 'Thanks so much, Tuney!'

'Come on,' said Petunia, holding her little sister's hand and leading her through the door. 'Mummy's calling us.'

With one last look at the flower still lying on her bedside table, Lily followed her sister downstairs, unknowing of the fact that magic most reveals itself at the age of seven.

* * *

James Potter rushed home, carrying a toy car in his hands. He wrenched the front door open, ran into the living room where his father was sitting on the couch and plopped himself down onto the carpet.

'Hey Dad, look at this!'

Mr Potter looked down from his Daily Prophet. 'What is it, son?' he asked with a curious look on his face. It was clear to see that James greatly resembled his father.

'Watch what I can do!'

James placed the small car onto the carpet and shuffled away from it to indicate a distance between them. Then he stared at it, a look of deep concentration etched onto his face. Automatically, the car started to move forward.

James' face broke into a grin at the sight of the moving car, and then turned to look at his father. Mr Potter's face had cracked into a grin as well as he thrust aside the newspaper in his hands and slid onto the carpet to congratulate his young son.

A woman entered the living room. She had long red hair that fell over her shoulders and light brown eyes.

'Mum!' exclaimed James, pointing at the toy car that was still moving, though rather slowly now. 'Look at what I did!'

Mrs Potter looked around in the direction to where James was pointing. 'Oh no, not another lamp! I'm running out of Spellotape.'

'No, no,' said James hastily. 'Not that. _That_.'

Mrs Potter's eyes fell on the toy car and a kind smile appeared on her face. After a fraction of a second, however, it was replaced by a stern frown.

'James Potter, _where_ did you get that car?'

A sheepish smile appeared on James' face as he put up his hands. 'I… er… got it from the Muggles across the street.'

Mrs Potter tilted her head and gave James a look that was reserved for whenever he did wrong.

'Anyways,' said James hastily, reaching over and grabbing the car, which was coming around the other way. 'I made the car move! _Without_touching it. Isn't that great?' he asked, without meeting his mother's piercing eyes. Mr Potter ruffled James' hair and grinned at him.

'It sure is, son,' he said, pride thundering in his voice. 'You'll be going to Hogwarts in no time!'

James grinned, turning the toy car over in his hands and looking from his mother to his father in pure joy.

* * *

A couple of years later still, Lily found herself making remarkable things happen. She still loved flowers (especially lilies, considering those were what she was named after) and found that she could make their petals move without even touching them.

One day, at about nine or ten years old, Lily and Petunia went to the playground they often visited during the summertime. Lily was fond of swings, and often found herself swinging much higher than she ought to. Her mother had even scolded her twice about this. But Lily saw no harm in the matter. After all, she had never gotten hurt.

She ran forward to claim a swing, sat down upon it and promptly kicked off from the ground. Petunia followed and sat on the swing beside Lily, watching her warily. Lily swung herself higher and higher. She loved this feeling. It was as though she was a bird. Suddenly, something caught her attention in the nearby bushes around the playground. Lily blinked, but when she had looked a second time, there was nothing there. Shaking her head and telling herself she was imagining things, Lily swung higher.

It was then that Petunia shrieked, _'Lily, don't do it!'_

_Ignoring Petunia, she let go of the swing at the very height of its arc and flew into the air, launching herself skyward with a great shout of laughter and soared like a trapeze artist through the air, staying up quite longer than usual and landing quite lightly, indeed._

'_Mummy told you not to!'_

_Petunia stopped her swing by dragging the heels of her sandals on the ground, making a crunching, grinding sound, then leapt up, hands on her hips._

'_Mummy said you weren't allowed, Lily!'_

'_But I'm fine,' said Lily, still giggling. 'Tuney, look at this. Watch what I can do.'_

_Petunia glanced around. The playground, it seemed, was deserted apart from themselves. Lily picked up a fallen flower from a nearby bush. Petunia advanced, evidently torn between curiosity and disapproval. Lily waited until Petunia was near enough to have a clear view, and then held out her palm. The flower sat there, opening and closing its petals._

_Lily smiled. She had gotten quite good at moving flowers._

'_Stop it!' shrieked Petunia._

'_It's not hurting you,' said Lily, but she closed her hand on the blossom and threw it back to the ground._

'_It's not right,' said Petunia, but her eyes had followed the flower's flight to the ground and lingered upon it. 'How do you do it?' she added, and there was definite longing in her voice._

'_It's obvious, isn't it?'_

_A boy had jumped out from behind the bushes. Petunia shrieked and ran backward toward the swings, but Lily, though clearly startled, remained where she was. A dull flush of colour mounted the boy's sallow cheeks as he looked at Lily. He was small and stringy, with overlong black hair. He was wearing too short jeans, a shabby, overlarge coat that might have belonged to a grown man, and an odd smock-like shirt._

'_What's obvious?' asked Lily._

_The boy had an air of nervous excitement. With a glance at the distant Petunia, now hovering beside the swings, he lowered his voice and said, 'I know what you are.'_

'_What do you mean?'_

'_You're… you're a witch,' he whispered._

_Lily looked affronted._

'_That's not a very nice thing to say to somebody!'_

_She turned, nose in the air, and marched off toward her sister._

'_No!' said the boy. He was highly coloured now, as he flapped after the girls, looking ludicrously bat-like._

_The sisters considered him, united in disapproval, both holding on to one of the swing poles, as though it was the safe place in tag._

'_You are,' he said to Lily. 'You are a witch. I've been watching you for a while. But there's nothing wrong with that. My mum's one and I'm a wizard.'_

_Petunia's laugh was like cold water._

'_Wizard!' she shrieked. Her courage returned now that she had recovered from the shock of his unexpected appearance. 'I know who you are. You're that Snape boy! They live down Spinner's End by the river,' she told Lily, and it was evident from her tone that she considered the address a poor recommendation. 'Why have you been spying on us?'_

'_Haven't been spying,' said Snape, hot and uncomfortable and dirty-haired in the bright sunlight. 'Wouldn't spy on you, anyway,' he added spitefully, 'You're a Muggle.'_

_Though Petunia evidently did not understand the word, she could hardly mistake the tone._

'_Lily, come on, we're leaving!' she said shrilly. Lily obeyed her sister at once, glaring at Snape as she left. He stood watching them as they marched through the playground gate, his face fixed with bitter disappointment._

[Rowling, Deathly Hallows, p. 350-351]

* * *

'Absolutely not.'

Mrs Potter stood out in the backward, her arms folded, looking at her husband and son with a determined look on her face.

'Aww, please mum?' James was pleading with his mother. 'Just once?'

'Oh, come on dear. He'll be fine.' Mr Potter was holding a broomstick in his hands as he smiled sheepishly at her. His face fell when he saw his wife's raised eyebrows.

'No way,' said Mrs Potter firmly. 'I know how crazy you two get about broomsticks and flying.'

'Mum, I'm not a baby!' insisted James. 'I'm going to Hogwarts in a year and a half, so I'm going to have to ride a broomstick eventually.' He returned his mother's determined glare.

'How about I ride it with him?' asked Mr Potter. 'You know, to make sure nothing happens.'

Mrs Potter considered him for a moment, and then sighed with exasperation.

'Oh, alright.' Mr Potter and James grinned at each other. 'But you make sure you don't fly too high. We live in a Muggle neighbourhood, you know.'

James nodded eagerly as he mounted the broomstick and sat in front of his father. 'Thanks mum!'

Mrs Potter smiled and pushed her hair back as James and Mr Potter rose to the air.

James let out a great shout of laughter as the broom accelerated forward. He loved this feeling. It was as though he were a bird.

* * *

The next day, Lily returned to the playground. Petunia hadn't wanted to come due to the events that took place the day before and had advised Lily not to either. Lily, who had never really taken to obeying her sister, went anyway. As odd as that Snape boy was, Lily's curiosity as to what he had spoken of was overwhelming.

Just as she had predicted he was in the playground when she arrived. He was quietly playing alone in the sand box. Snape watched as Lily entered the playground, but then averted his gaze quickly. Lily headed toward the swings as usual, but simply sat there swaying back and forth, rather than swinging high as she usually did. Lily and the boy were the only people in the playground and there was an awkward silence between them.

After a moment's silence, Lily asked in a quiet voice, 'Is it true?'

Snape turned around to face her, eagerness in his face.

'Huh?'

'That thing you said,' responded Lily, still swaying back and forth. 'About witches and wizards.'

Lily watched him carefully as he nodded.

'I'm a… witch?' she asked again. '_That's_ why I can do all that stuff?'

Snape nodded again, still not taking his eyes off Lily.

Lily considered him for a moment, and then protested, 'But, I don't have a green face! Or a cauldron or a broomstick or a pointy hat or anything!'

Snape laughed, making Lily flush with embarrassment.

'That's not what a witch is. That's just what Muggles think they look like,' he responded.

'Muggle… that's what you called Petunia yesterday. She wasn't pleased.'

Snape shrugged, still staring at Lily. 'So what? She's just a Muggle.'

'What _is_ a Muggle, anyway?' demanded Lily.

'Non-magical people,' said Snape simply.

'Oh… am _I_ a…'

'Nope.' He shook his head. 'You can do magic. I saw you.'

Lily wrinkled her brow and the boy, flushing slightly, returned to playing at the sandbox.

'So I'm a witch?' repeated Lily.

'Yeah,' clarified Snape, sounding relieved that she had continued talking to him. 'You'll get to go to Hogwarts. Me too.'

'_Hogwarts?_' Lily raised her eyebrows. 'Gross, why would I want to see a hog's _warts_?'

Snape was evidently confused, because he wrinkled his brow and shook his head quickly. 'No,' he said, in a slightly louder voice. 'Hogwarts. It's a school of magic.'

Lily's eyes had popped open and her eyebrows shot up to her head. 'A _school_ of magic?' It was hard to keep the wonder out of her voice.

Snape nodded. 'Yep, that's right. It's where we learn to use magic and stuff. We get to go there when we turn eleven.'

Lily had gotten off her swing and was making her way toward Snape. He watched her eagerly as she came up to the sandbox and plopped herself down on the sand across from him. The corners of Snape's mouth twisted into a smile. Lily began to make a pile of sand.

'I'm Lily,' she said, giving him a brilliant smile.

'I kn – I'm Severus… Snape.' He looked embarrassed by what he had almost let slip.

Lily nodded, pile of sand in front of her growing larger still. There was a moment's silence.

'So what's this school like?' asked Lily, her curiosity unbearable.

'Well, like I said, it's a school about magic. You get to go when you're eleven and you learn magic for seven years.'

Lily quickly counted her fingers. 'So until we're eighteen then?'

Snape nodded again. 'You get to learn all sorts of things. Like how to do spells, how to change things into other things, how to make potions… and even how to fly!' Snape watched Lily's face as he said this, to see the reaction on her face.

'_Fly_?' whispered Lily.

Snape nodded. 'On broomsticks. I don't know all that much about it, but my mum tells me about it sometimes.'

Lily smiled and leaned forward.

'It must be fun,' she said, gazing up at the sky.

* * *

'Mum? I'm home,' called Lily, as she entered her house and shut the front door behind her. A kind looking woman with shoulder length strawberry-blond hair approached to greet her.

'Hi there, sweetheart,' she said, giving her a smile that was almost identical to Lily's one. 'Where have you been?'

'At the playground.' Lily paused. Should she tell her about what Severus had said? 'Where's Tuney, mum?'

'Washing up for dinner – you should, too. Go on, now.'

Lily took off her shoes and headed toward the bathroom. Perhaps right now wasn't a good time to startle her mum with odd information. She entered the bathroom to find Petunia scrubbing away at her fingers. Petunia saw Lily enter from the corner of her eyes and gave her a stern frown through the bathroom mirror.

'I know where you went,' she said, turning the tap off and placing her hands on her hips. 'You went to the playground.'

'So?' asked Lily defiantly. 'What's wrong with that?'

Petunia turned to check if there was anyone outside the bathroom floor, and then returned her glare toward her sister. 'Well, that rude Snape boy was there yesterday.'

'What if he _was_ there yesterday? What makes you think he was there today as well?'

Petunia raised an eyebrow.

'OK, OK. So he _was_. But Tuney, you wouldn't believe it! I can do magic! That's how I made the flowers move and everything. Magic, Tuney! Isn't that amazing?'

Petunia looked at her; both of her eyebrows were raised now, and she let out a cold laugh.

'Magic? Lily, you can't do magic!'

'Yes, I can!' said Lily indignantly. 'Remember the flower petals?'

'That _wasn't_ magic, Lily! I just can't believe you believed that Snape boy.'

She laughed cruelly, leaving Lily hurt and alone in the bathroom.

* * *

'Dad?'

James was lying down on his stomach on the carpet in his living room, kicking his feet back and forth.

'Yeah, son?' Mr Potter looked down at him from the top of his Daily Prophet.

'Tell me about Hogwarts again.'

Mr Potter grinned and cast aside his newspaper, as Mrs Potter entered the room and sat on the arm of her husband's chair.

'Hogwarts,' began Mr Potter, 'is the most extraordinary school in the world. When _we_ went there, the Headmaster was a man named Armando Dippet. Wonderful man. Recently though, Albus Dumbledore became the Headmaster. Another great man. He was a good teacher, too. In Hogwarts, you get to learn greater magic than any other school can offer, in my opinion. There _are_ other schools, of course. Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. Both very respected as well. But I believe that Hogwarts had the best teachers in the wizarding world. It also teaches _amazing_subjects. Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Flying…'

'Yep, that's right,' he added, catching his son's eye. James had the largest smile on his face. 'Flying too. But quite honestly, son, Hogwarts is most exceptional because that's the place where you meet incredible people, lifelong friends and soul mates.' Mr Potter took his wife's hand and smiled at her, while James feigned throwing up behind their backs.

* * *

Despite what Petunia had said, Lily had become more and more interested in what Snape had to say. The topic of witchcraft and wizardry, especially_without_ the evil with it was associated to in television, was quite addicting, and Lily and Snape spent hours at a time every day talking about it. One such day, Snape and Lily sat together in a small thicket of trees. A sunlit river glittered through their trunks. The shadows cast by the trees made a basin of cool, green shade. Lily and Snape sat facing each other, cross-legged on the ground. Snape had removed his coat now; his odd smock looked less peculiar in the half light. Snape was talking, yet again about the wizarding world.

'… _and the Ministry can punish you if you do magic outside school, you get letters.'_

'_But I have done magic outside school!'_

'_We're all right. We haven't got wands yet. They let you off when you're a kid and you can't help it. But once you're eleven,' he nodded importantly, 'and they start training you, then you've got to be careful._

_There was a little silence. Lily had picked up a fallen twig and twirled it in the air. She was imagining sparks trailing from it. Then she dropped the twig, leaned in toward Snape, and said, 'It is real, isn't it?'_

'_It's real for us,' said Snape, 'Not for her. But we'll get the letter, you and me.'_

'_Really?' whispered Lily._

'_Definitely,' said Snape, and even with his poorly cut hair and his odd clothes, he struck an oddly impressive figure sprawled in front of her, brimful of confidence in his destiny._

'_And will it really come by owl?' Lily whispered._

'_Normally,' said Snape. 'But you're Muggle-born, so someone from the school will have to come and explain to your parents.'_

'_Does it make a difference, being Muggle-born?'_

_Snape hesitated. His black eyes, eager in the greenish gloom, moved over the pale face, the dark red hair._

'_No,' he said. 'It doesn't make any difference.'_

'_Good,' said Lily, relaxing. She really had been worrying about that lately._

'_You've got loads of magic,' said Snape. 'I saw that. All the time I was watching you…'_

_His voice trailed away; she was not listening, but had stretched out on the leafy ground and was looking up at the canopy of leaves overhead. He watched her as greedily as he had watched her in the playground the first time they met._

'_How are things at your house?' Lily asked._

_A little crease appeared between Snape's eyes._

'_Fine,' he said._

'_They're not arguing anymore?'_

'_Oh yes, they're arguing,' said Snape. He picked up a fistful of leaves and began tearing them apart, apparently unaware of what he was doing. 'But it won't be that long and I'll be gone.'_

'_Doesn't your dad like magic?'_

'_He doesn't like anything, much,' said Snape._

'_Severus?'_

_A little smile twisted Snape's mouth when she said his name._

'_Yeah?'_

'_Tell me about the Dementors again.'_

'_What d'you want to know about them for?'_

'_If I use magic outside school -'_

'_They wouldn't give you to the Dementors for that! Dementors are for people who do really bad stuff. They guard the wizard prison, Azkaban. You're not going to end up in Azkaban, you're too -'_

_He turned red again and shredded more leaves. Then a small rustling noise: Petunia, who had been hiding behind a tree, had lost her footing._

'_Tuney!' said Lily, surprise and welcome in her voice, but Snape had jumped to his feet._

'_Who's spying now?' he shouted. 'What d'you want?'_

_Petunia was breathless, alarmed at being caught. She was struggling for something hurtful to say._

'_What is that you're wearing, anyway?' she said, pointing at Snape's chest. 'Your mum's blouse?'_

_There was a crack. A branch over Petunia's head had fallen. Lily screamed. The branch caught Petunia on the shoulder, and she staggered backward and burst into tears._

'_Tuney!'_

_But Petunia was running away. Lily rounded on Snape._

'_Did you make that happen?'_

'_No.' He looked both defiant and scared._

'_You did!' She was backing away from him. 'You did! You hurt her!'_

'_No – no, I didn't!'_

_But the lie did not convince Lily. After one last burning look, she ran from the little thicket, off after her sister, and Snape looked miserable and confused…_

[Rowling, Deathly Hallows, p. 351-352]

* * *

'James Potter, what am I going to do about that hair?'

Mrs Potter stood in front of James, looking down at his wild, unruly hair, and then at his father, who was grinning sheepishly behind him. 'We just got it cut yesterday, too!'

'He's got his old man's hair!' said Mr Potter, ruffling his own hair and laughing.

'You're not old, dad,' said James, grinning and watching as his dad ruffled his hair, with a look of admiration on his face.

* * *

Lily was still quite angry with Snape the next day and had stopped going to the playground to meet him after what he had done to Petunia. However, by the following week her anger seemed to have evaporated. It was replaced more by the burning feeling of curiosity. Though Snape had told her everything she needed to know about Hogwarts, Lily felt a void in her life without him in it.

As her eleventh birthday approached, Lily felt an anxiousness engulf her. Would she get the letter then? This would be the moment of ultimate truth. Then, she promised herself, she would make up with Severus.

On the morning of January 30, Lily got up extra early. She rushed downstairs and sat in front of the front door. Her parents, as well as Petunia, were still asleep but Lily didn't care. This was it. Her eleventh birthday. If Snape was telling the truth, the proof would arrive shortly. Lily sat there watching the mail slot for a full half hour before the flap popped open and a barrage of letters fell through. She gathered them all up and went into the sitting room. Sitting atop the couch, she went through each letter one by one.

_To Mr Evans_, _To Mr. & Mrs Evans_, _To Mrs Evans_, and to Lily's excitement, _To Miss L. Evans_. Lily gasped. She dropped the other letters onto the couch to her right and brought the one addressed to her closer to her eyes. There it was. With her address and everything. Lily fingered the flap of the envelope and opened it carefully. This was a crucial moment, she thought. Ceremoniously, she got the entire flap open and pulled out the letter.

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_

_Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE_

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., , Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

_Dear Miss Evans,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

_Term begins on September 1. We shall be sending a Hogwarts school official to your home today._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall,_

_Deputy Headmistress_

Lily let out a shriek of happiness and began to jump up and down. Mr & Mrs Evans rushed downstairs, still wearing their pyjamas with a worried expression on their faces.

'What's the matter!' asked Mrs Evans, a crease in her brow.

'What is it?' asked Mr Evans. He was slightly taller than his wife, with brownish-blond hair and brilliant green eyes. Momentarily, his tall face was fixed with worry.

'Look, mum! Look, dad!' Lily excitedly thrust the letter into her parents' hands and watched their faces as their eyes ran over the words on the letter.

Finally, Mr Evans spoke.

'My goodness… This is amazing. Magic, huh? _My_ little girl?' He put his hand lightly on top of Lily's head and she giggled.

'Why, this is really some news, isn't it?' said Mrs Evans, still examining the letter.

'What's going on?' Petunia had come downstairs too. She stood at the middle of the stairs, looking from her parents to her little sister. Lily's face lit up at the sight of her and she ran forward to greet her.

'Tuney! Guess what! It's true! I _can_ do magic! Sev was telling the truth all along! I'm going to Hogwarts!'

Petunia looked bewildered as she looked at the letter in her mother's hand. Her mother had now looked up from the letter.

'Looks like they'll be sending a school official later today,' she said.

The doorbell rang.

Lily hurried to open the door, half-hoping it was Snape. Standing in front of the door was a tall, old man. He wore half-moon spectacles, had a long, crooked nose, and flowing silver hair, beard, and moustache. He was wearing long robes, a dark blue cloak that swept the ground, and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright and twinkled behind his glasses when he smiled down kindly at Lily.

'Hello, my dear,' he said. 'I am to understand that you are Miss Lily Evans?'

Lily smiled and nodded at him. Mr & Mrs Evans came to her side and the man's face lit up.

'Ah! And you must be Mr & Mrs Evans! Pleasure to meet you.' The man took a bow.

'Hello,' said Mrs Evans nervously. 'And you –?'

'Oh, of course. How utterly rude of me. I am Professor Albus Dumbledore and I am the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.'

Mrs Evans' eyebrows shot up to her head but Mr Evans leaned forward and offered his hand to Dumbledore, who gladly shook it.

'Please come in,' said Mr Evans.

Dumbledore smiled broadly and entered the house, looking around it in amazement. He noticed Petunia standing near the stairs and smiled kindly at her.

'Ah, you must be young Petunia.' He bowed lightly to her and then allowed himself to be led into the sitting room. Petunia, still looking bewildered, did not return Dumbledore's smile.

'Wonderful home, wonderful home,' muttered Dumbledore as he entered the sitting room. 'Oh, and let me say your lilies are flourishing.'

'In more ways than one,' said Mrs Evans affectionately, standing behind Lily and hugging her. Petunia looked as though she had been punched in the stomach.

'Now,' began Dumbledore, once seated with a cup of tea in his hands. 'As you know, your daughter is quite gifted.'

Mrs Evans nodded slowly, as Dumbledore continued. 'She has the ability to perform magic. In our school, Hogwarts, we teach students to control their Magic and to use it well. We have highly skilled teachers who will make sure their students study well and very comfortable dormitories, so students can get a good night's sleep as well.'

He took a sip from his tea. Mr Evans leaned forward.

'Well,' he said, 'we also have a few concerns as well.'

'Naturally,' said Dumbledore kindly. 'Please, ask away.'

'Well…' Mr Evans seemed to be in deep thought. 'First… what sort of magic _is_ this? Magicians? Like magic tricks in kids' birthday parties?'

Dumbledore chuckled. 'No, my dear man. This magic is quite real and I assure you it isn't a trick. The magic your daughter is capable of is the kind that allows her to enter the wizarding world. In Hogwarts, she'll be able to learn how to use this magic. She'll learn simple charms and spells, learn how to brew potions – for helpful purposes of course – how to transfigure one item into another, and even defensive jinxes and hexes.'

Mr Evans nodded and seemed quite at ease hearing the word 'defensive.'

'Right,' he said. 'And this education… is it purely magic?'

'Ah... well, you see Lily is now part of the magical community. Subjects such as math and science are still taught, but they are quite different from the kind Muggles learn. For example, Arithmancy -'

'Muggles?' Mrs Evans seemed quite confused.

'Non-magical people,' supplied Lily, remembering what Snape had said.

'Quite right,' said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling. 'Hogwarts also teaches History of Magic and Astrology and Lily has a choice in which subjects she chooses, keeping in mind it helps her get into a certain job field.'

'Job field… Oh, so there are jobs available too?' Mr Evans looked very pleased.

'Of course! In fact, we also have a _Ministry_ of Magic.'

Mr & Mrs Evans looked quite impressed, but Petunia was looking unimpressed on the whole.

'What about housing? Will Lily be coming home every day?' Mrs Evans looked worried when she said this.

'Ah, well, like I said, Hogwarts has a large number of comfortable dormitories, where she can sleep every day. She can come home for Christmas and Easter holidays, but other than that, she will live in Hogwarts.'

Mr & Mrs Evans looked at each other.

'Hogwarts,' added Dumbledore, 'has _excellent_ security, with extremely skilled teacher guardians and exceptional defensive spells surrounding it. It is also a wonderful environment for a child to grow up in.'

Mr & Mrs Evans finally looked at ease. They smiled at each other, at Lily and finally at Dumbledore.

'Well then, Professor… er…'

'Professor Dumbledore.'

'Professor Dumbell-door.' Dumbledore smiled as an embarrassed-looking Mr Evans continued, 'With that kind of an exceptional program you seem to be running, we'd be fools to not accept your offer.' He got up with Dumbledore and shook his hand.

'Excellent! Now… term starts on September the first. Here…' Dumbledore took out a blank piece of paper from his robes and tapped it with his wand while Mr & Mrs Evans, Lily and even Petunia watched curiously, '… is a map of Diagon Alley, with instructions on how to get there. You should be able to find it quite easily. Just go into The Leaky Cauldron, Lily should be able to find it, and ask for Tom the barman. And…' Dumbledore reached into his robes and fished out a small sack. 'This is what we call wizard money. It's not the same as Muggle money. You can use this money to buy Lily's books and robes –' he pointed to the paper attached to Lily's letter), '–or you can also exchange Muggle money into wizard gold, which can be done at Gringotts bank.'

Mr & Mrs Evans looked as though they had a lot to digest, but Lily nodded understandingly. Petunia looked from Dumbledore to Lily, still speechless.

When Dumbledore had finally left, Petunia spoke. Her voice was barely a whisper when she demanded, 'Let me see,' and grabbed the letter in Lily's hands. She read the letter quickly and silently, then thrust it back into her sister's hands and ran upstairs without another word.

'Tuney? _Tuney!_' Lily called after her sister but no response came. Mrs Evans put her hand gently over Lily's shoulder and bent down to whisper in her ear.

'Don't you worry, dear. She's just upset because she's going to miss you. Just give her some time, alright?' Lily nodded weakly.

Later that day, Lily went to the playground. She had a feeling that Snape wouldn't show up there, especially since it had become quite cold, but she went all the same. Bundling up with a coat and scarf, Lily rushed to the playground, clutching the envelope and letter tightly in her hands. But as she had hoped, there was Snape. He wasn't playing in the sandbox, as he usually preferred, but was sitting quietly on a swing, swaying back and forth slowly.

'Sev!' Lily ran forward and flung her arms over Snape's neck in an embrace. Snape, who had just realised Lily's presence there, looked quite shocked but happy all the same. When Lily had finally let go, he seemed quite pleased with himself.

'Look!' Lily thrust the letter into his hands and watched his face grow with excitement as he read it.

'That's great!' he croaked as he handed the letter back to Lily and the excitement of their meeting had died down. He looked at Lily and there was an awkward silence.

'I'm sorry,' muttered Snape. 'About the branch and your sister.'

'Never mind,' said Lily bracingly. 'Forget about it. Just… try not to do it again.'

Snape nodded eagerly and watched as Lily dusted the snow off the swing next to him and sat down.

'Oh right,' said Snape after awhile, pulling out a small box and handing it to Lily. 'Happy birthday.'

'Sev! How'd you – Thanks so much!' Lily opened the case slowly. Inside was a less-than-neatly braided multicoloured bracelet made of a bundle of thin threads. She lifted the bracelet out and examined it under the sun.

'I wanted to make it with magic,' said Snape quickly, not catching Lily's eye. 'We're allowed to use magic until we start at Hogwarts, you know. But every time I tried, it just came out wrong. So I just made it by hand. I know it's not that great,' muttered Snape.

But Lily had flung her arms around Snape again. 'It's brilliant! I love it.' Snape flushed with happiness.

* * *

'Dad, look!'

An owl had flown into the Potter home and swiftly dropped a letter onto James' lap. James picked it up, read the return address and jumped up with joy. Yes! It was the twenty seventh of March and James had finally turned eleven.

'Congratulations, son!' Mr Potter, who was reading yet another Daily Prophet, dropped it on the kitchen table and leaded forward to give his son a high-five.

'I've got eleven chocoball pancakes for the birthday boy who just turned eleven!' Mrs Potter set down a plate in front of her husband and son.

'Mum, look!' James showed her the letter and her face broke into a grin.

'That's marvellous! Why, we should go into Diagon Alley _today_ to get you things! We can pick up a birthday present as well!'

She leaned forward and kissed a wide-grinning James on the head.

* * *

'Wait, that's a _Hogwarts_ letter.'

'Huh?' Lily turned around to find Snape craning over a letter on Petunia's desk. They had been playing Hide-and-Seek and Lily had found Snape yet again, even though he had figured he was safe in a Muggle's room.

Snape picked up the envelope and held it up for Lily to see. Like Lily's letter, this one had a Hogwarts crest on the envelope.

'Petunia's going to Hogwarts too?' Lily couldn't help but smile. Her big sister was going to be at Hogwarts as well?

Snape shook his head promptly. 'No. She's a Muggle. That's for sure. Professor Dumbledore would have talked to your parents about her too if she wasn't.'

Lily's face fell slightly. 'Then how come she has a letter?'

Snape looked deep in thought. 'I don't know. I can't believe a Muggle contacted Hogwarts. Oh… wait, there must be wizards working undercover in the postal service.' He nodded his head matter-of-factly.

Lily took the envelope from his hands gently and pulled out the letter inside. She read it, and then reread it, her eyes misting over.

'She must have really wanted to go,' she said quietly. Snape looked rather uncomfortable as Lily put the letter back on Petunia's desk and left the room without another word.

* * *

'Here it is, son. The magic begins here.' James and his parents were standing in the King's Cross station in London looking directly at Platform 9 ¾. James stared at the wall between platform 9 and 10, then looked at his father.

'Where's platform –?'

'You're looking at it.'

James looked back at the wall. He saw platform 9 on his left and platform 10 on his right. But no platform 9 ¾. Then a realization occurred to him.

'Wait,' he said grinning. 'You have to –?'

'That's right.' Mr Potter grinned and Mrs Potter gathered together James' luggage, placing it all onto a cart.

'Make sure you run at it,' said Mr Potter.

James gripped his cart handle tightly, preparing to run into the wall.

'What, no goodbye?'

James turned around to see his dad feigning a hurt expression. He rushed forward and gave his father a fleeting hug.

'Bye, Dad! Bye, Mum!'

He permitted his mother to kiss him before gripping his cart and running toward Platform 9 ¾, disappearing behind its wall.

* * *

_Platform 9 ¾._

Lily looked back at the wall, gaping. She had just followed a boy across the border separating Platform 9 ¾. And she wasn't injured. Even though she had run into a wall.

Lily caught sight of Snape nearby and gave him a small smile. Then she turned back to her family. Her parents were overjoyed, looking around at their surroundings. Petunia however, looked quite cross, as though she hadn't wanted to come. Lily pulled her away from her parents.

'You're mad at me, aren't you, Tuney?'

Petunia did not answer, but continued to look down at her feet with a cold glare.

'Listen Tuney. I wanted you to come too. I promise.' No response.

_'I'm sorry, Tuney, I'm sorry! Listen -' She caught Petunia's hand and held tight to it, even though she tried to pull it away. 'Maybe once I'm there – no, listen, Tuney! Maybe once I'm there, I'll be able to go to Professor Dumbledore and persuade him to change his mind!'_

'_I don't – want – to – go!' said Petunia, and she dragged her hand back out of her sister's grasp. 'You think I want to go to some stupid castle and learn to be a – a…'_

_Her pale eyes roved over the platform, over the cats mewling in their owners' arms, over the owls, fluttering and hooting at each other in cages, over the students, some already in their long black robes, loading trunks onto the scarlet steam engine or else greeting one another with glad cries after a summer apart._

'– _You think I want to be a – a freak?'_

_Lily's eyes filled with tears as Petunia succeeded in tugging her hand away._

'_I'm not a freak,' said Lily. 'That's a horrible thing to say.'_

'_That's where you're going,' said Petunia with relish. 'A special school for freaks. You and that Snape boy… weirdos, that's what you two are. It's good you're being separated from normal people. It's for our safety.'_

_Lily glanced toward her parents, who were still looking around the platform with an air of wholehearted enjoyment, drinking in the scene. Then she looked back at her sister, and her voice was low and fierce._

'_You didn't think it was such a freak's school when you wrote to the headmaster and begged him to take you.'_

_Petunia turned scarlet._

'_Beg? I didn't beg!'_

'_I saw his reply. It was very kind.'_

'_You shouldn't have read -' whispered Petunia, 'that was my private – how could you –?'_

_Lily gave herself away by half-glancing toward where Snape stood. Petunia gasped._

'_That boy found it! You and that boy have been sneaking in my room!'_

'_No – not sneaking -' Now Lily was on the defensive. 'Severus saw the envelope, and he couldn't believe a Muggle could have contacted Hogwarts, that's all! He says there must be wizards working undercover in the postal service who take care of -'_

'_Apparently wizards poke their noses in everywhere!' said Petunia, now as pale as she had been flushed. 'Freak!' she spat at her sister, and she flounced off to where her parents stood, leaving Lily hurt and tearful._

[Rowling, Deathly Hallows, p. 353]

* * *

Lily entered the train feeling extremely hurt. Petunia was angry with her. She probably hated her now. Tears filled Lily's eyes. Lily hurried to find a compartment, but everywhere she looked seemed to be full. She just wanted to be alone right now, but it seemed as though there were no empty compartments left. After awhile, she gave up and went into a compartment that at least had some seats.

Inside were a group of boys talking excitedly to each other. One of them, the boy she had seen enter the platform, looked up as she arrived. He had jet-black hair and hazel-coloured eyes. Lily blinked hard, hoping her tears weren't visible. He looked at her for a fraction of a second, with a concerned look on his face, and then gave her a small smile before returning his attention back to his newly-made friends. Lily found a window seat at the other side of the compartment from the boys and curled up in the corner. She pressed her nose against the window and saw her parents and Petunia.

Suddenly, Snape slid open the compartment door and sat down opposite Lily. She glanced at him and then looked back out of the window. It was evident to Snape that she had been crying.

'_I don't want to talk to you,' she said in a constricted voice._

'_Why not?'_

'_Tuney h-hates me. Because we saw that letter from Dumbledore.'_

'_So what?'_

_She threw him a look of deep dislike._

'_So she's my sister!'_

'_She's only a -' He caught himself quickly; Lily, too busy trying to wipe her eyes without being noticed, did not hear him._

'_But we're going!' he said, unable to suppress the exhilaration in his voice. 'This is it! We're off to Hogwarts!'_

_She nodded, mopping her eyes, but in spite of herself, she half smiled._

'_You'd better be in Slytherin,' said Snape, encouraged that she had brightened a little._

'_Slytherin?'_

_One of the boys sharing the compartment, the one with the jet-black hair, looked around at the word. He was slight, but with that indefinable air of having been well-cared-for, even adored, that Snape so conspicuously lacked._

'_Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?' James asked the boy lounging on the seats opposite him. He was slightly tall for his age, with fair skin and dark hair. The boy did not smile._

'_My whole family have been in Slytherin,' he said._

'_Blimey,' said James, 'and I thought you seemed all right!'_

_The boy grinned._

'_Maybe I'll break the tradition. Where are you heading, if you've got the choice?'_

_James lifted an invisible sword._

"_Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!' Like my dad.'_

_Snape made a small, disparaging noise. James turned on him._

'_Got a problem with that?'_

'_No,' said Snape, though his slight sneer said otherwise. 'If you'd rather be brawny than brainy -'_

'_Where're you hoping to go, seeing as you're neither?' interjected the boy sitting across from James._

_James roared with laughter. Lily sat up, rather flushed, and looked from James to the boy across from him in dislike._

'_Come on, Severus, let's find another compartment.'_

'_Oooooo…'_

_James and his new friend imitated her lofty voice; James tried to trip Snape as he passed._

'_See ya, Snivellus!' a voice called, as the compartment door slammed…_

[Rowling, Deathly Hallows, p. 354]

* * *

James watched, laughing, as Snape left the compartment. _What a git_, he thought to himself. He _wanted_ to be in Slytherin? And that girl with the red hair and green eyes. She had been crying…

James shook his head. He was quite pleased with himself, in any case. He had been on the train for five minutes, and he already made friends. He had met the boy in front of him – Sirius was his name – when he entered the compartment. James glanced at Sirius in pity. His whole family had been in Slytherin. And he was afraid to end up there himself. James' parents at least had belonged to Gryffindor, so there was a great chance he would end up there as well.

'Do you know about the Fat Lady?'

James snapped out of his thoughts as he was forced back into the conversation.

* * *

Lily and Snape, however, had not been able to find an empty compartment. Minutes later, they finally found one where a girl and a sleeping boy were seated. Hoping for better luck in this one, Lily knocked on the door boldly and slid it open.

'Can Severus and I stay in this compartment? Everywhere else is… full.'

The girl looked up and nodded. She had creamy light brown skin, long, silky black hair and fascinating eyes. Lily smiled at her politely and took the seat across from her. Snape stood there quite awkwardly for a few moments, and then sat down beside Lily.

'I'm Lily Evans,' said Lily, extending her right hand toward the girl. She smiled and shook it.

'Kalah Ramnath. First year.'

'Me too,' said Lily, grinning at her. She gestured to Severus at her left. 'Er… This is Severus. He's… er… shy.'

Severus made no acknowledgement whatsoever of the girl, but kept staring at his foot. Lily glanced at the sleeping boy, sitting at the other side of the compartment. He was shabby looking, with neat hair and hand-me-down robes.

'He was asleep there when we got in here,' said Kalah, examining him with her head tilted to one side.

A short while later, there was a great clattering outside in the corridor and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back their door and said, 'Anything off the cart, dears?'

Kalah looked up. Lily shook her head.

'I… er… don't have any wizard money.' She turned to Kalah. 'We were going to exchange _Muggle_ money for it,' she explained, holding out a five-pound note, 'but mum was frightened of the goblins at Gringotts.'

Kalah grinned, pulling out a small pouch from her robes. 'Well, I've got some,' she said. She turned to the witch now. 'We'll take a bit of everything then.'

Lily spent the majority of her ride going through the chocolate and candy that Kalah had bought. There were so many different kinds of candy, each more amazing than the last. Chocolate Frogs, Fizzing Whizbees, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum…

'See? I told you! Candy and chocolates in the wizarding world is so much more fun than Muggle candies,' said Kalah, laughing, after Lily had blown an unbelievably large bubble from Drooble's Best Blowing Gum.

'It _is_!' said Lily enthusiastically. 'Thanks for letting me try it, Kalah!'

'Every Flavor Beans,' announced Kalah after awhile, holding up a box and speaking seriously. 'They mean it. _Every_ flavour. Even disgusting ones like earwax or vomit. It's more of a risk candy.'

Snape was still quiet. Once or twice, Lily had offered him a Chocolate Frog and invited him into the conversation, but it was quite obvious that Snape proved awkward in this crowd.

* * *

James was feeling especially happy. He had made friends, had a lot of chocolate before him presently and was on his way to Hogwarts. He had gotten to know Sirius quite a lot in the last few hours, and found him to be somewhat like himself. Sirius, for example, was interested in the prospect of belonging to Gryffindor house and seemed less troubled now by the fact that his entire family had belonged to Slytherin.

It was starting to get dark and James and Sirius had already changed into their school robes. A while later, the train slowed right down and finally stopped. People pushed their way toward the door onto a tiny, dark platform. James and Sirius, carrying their trunks, followed. Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and a loud voice boomed out into the night.

'Firs' years! Firs' years over here!'

There was a large man standing there, with long a long shaggy mane of hair and a wild, tangled beard. The first years looked at him anxiously, but a lot of other students walked past him, smiling and nodding, greeting him.

'Hey, Hagrid!'

'Hagrid, how're you?'

Hagrid smiled at them and waved, before turning his attention back to the first years.

'Right then, any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!'

James caught sight of Snape from the corner of his eye. He nudged Sirius, who looked round and snickered.

Lily followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark on either side of her that Lily thought there must be thick trees there. Nobody spoke much.

'Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts soon,' said Hagrid, holding up the lamp.

There was a loud 'Oooooh!'

Lily moved over to catch a better view. The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.

'No more'n four to a boat!' Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Lily slipped into the nearest boat, followed by Kalah, Snape and the boy that was sleeping in the compartment.

'Had a good sleep, then?' Lily asked him, grinning. She had just noticed his awakening.

The boy smiled weakly at her. 'I wasn't able to get much sleep lately.' He looked up anxiously at the sky.

'I'm Lily,' supplied Lily.

'Remus Lupin.' He shook his head and took a better look at his surroundings.

'Everyone in?' shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. 'Right then – FORWARD!'

And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.

'Heads down!' yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face.

'Oi – you there! Quit rockin' yer boat! D'yeh want to drown?'

James and Sirius stopped swaying side to side, large grins plastered on their faces. The large mousy-haired boy and the brown-haired girl in the same boat had round, fearful eyes.

Soon, they were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbour, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.

They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door. Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.

The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in sapphire-blue robes stood there. She was young, but had a very stern face and it was quite obvious that she was not someone to cross.

'Firs' years, Professor McGonagall,' said Hagrid.

'Thank you, Hagrid. I can take them from here.'

* * *

References:

Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. J. K. Rowling Bloomsbury, London: 2007.

Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. J. K. Rowling Bloomsbury, London: 1998


	2. Hogwarts

_**A/N –**__ Hello, again :) Thank you guys for the amazing reviews I got for the first chapter *grin* They kept me going, I assure you._

_**Disclaimer:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. In order to make my story seem more authentic, I have literally cut and pasted direct scenes from Rowling's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. These scenes are clearly italicized, and are properly referenced that the end of the chapter._

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"_**God's gifts put man's best dreams to shame."**_

_**--- Elizabeth Barrett Browning**_

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Professor McGonagall pulled the door open wide. Lily gaped as she looked around it – the Entrance Hall was enormous and Lily was sure her entire house could fit in here. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches, the ceiling was quite high, and the magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors.

Lily and the rest of the first years followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. She could hear the muffled sounds of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right, but Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They all crowded in; Lily shot Kalah a look of nervousness and received one in return.

'Welcome to Hogwarts,' said Professor McGonagall. 'The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your Houses. The Sorting is an important ceremony because while you are here, your house will be something like your family inside Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, as well as members of other houses, sleep in your House dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.'

'The four houses are called Gryffindor,' James and Sirius grinned at each other, 'Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each House has its noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your victories will earn your house some points, while any rule-breaking will decrease house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

'The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting.'

She eyed the short, chubby boy with mousy-haired that was standing at the front of the crowd.

'Ready? Yes, dear? No, no, you don't need to curtsy in front of the Headmaster. Very well, then. The Sorting Ceremony is about to begin. Now, form a line and follow me.'

Lily glanced nervously at Kalah and got into line in front of her, behind the mousy-haired boy. They all followed Professor McGonagall, walking out of the chamber, back across the hall, and through a pair of double doors that led to the Great Hall.

James took a deep intake of breath. He had heard about Hogwarts, but had never imagined it to be so… _spectacular_. It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led the first years up to this top landing, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. The hundreds of faces staring at them were barely visible now; they seemed like shadows. And here and there, among the students, several ghosts shone misty silver.

Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. Then she placed a pointed wizard's hat atop it. This hat was patched, frayed and extremely dirty.

For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth – and the hat began to sing.

Lily watched it in amusement and surprise. The hat was talking – singing, even! And judging by the lack of surprised faces around her, she figured this was not as great of a feat to them as it was to her.

The hat was singing about the school and Lily found herself absorbed in its words. It spoke about the founders of Hogwarts – Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff and Salazar Slytherin. It spoke of knowledge, of course, but most importantly it spoke of the union of the four Houses of Hogwarts. Finally, it sang the fact that each first year student had to try it on; the Hat would make the decision of who will be in which house.

When the Sorting Hat finished its rather long (not to mention rhyming) song, Lily burst into applause with the rest of the school. The hat bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again…

Lily breathed a sigh of relief. So she did not need to perform magic… all she had to do was try on a hat…

Kalah nudged her lightly, pointing to someone sitting at a table. Lily looked round.

'That's my sister,' whispered Kalah. 'She's in Gryffindor.' Lily nodded her acknowledgement. Lily wasn't sure which House she wanted to belong to. Severus had told her that Slytherin was a fine house – he expected himself to end up there. But then again, that black-haired boy had said that Gryffindor was better. Not that she believed him, of course. But the other nasty stories she had heard on the train, as well as the whisperings around her as she exited the train had had quite an effect on her opinion of the house.

Professor McGonagall now stepped forward, holding a long roll of parchment.

'When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted,' she said. 'Abbott, Archie!'

A pink-faced boy with short blond hair stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over his eyes and sat down. A moment's pause later, the Sorting Hat spoke.

'HUFFLEPUFF!' it shouted.

The table on the right cheered and clapped as Archie went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table. A ghost waved merrily at him.

'Avery, Michael!'

A black-haired boy made his way to the stool. The hat decided on him quickly.

'SLYTHERIN!'

'Black, Sirius!'

Sirius got out of line nervously and sat down upon the small stool, a grim expression on his face. After a few moments…

'GRYFFINDOR!'

There were hushed whispers coming from the Slytherin table. James cheered silently, pumping his fist in the air. And bewildered Sirius got up suddenly, handed the hat back to Professor McGonagall, and with a huge smile on his face that seemed to reach either ear, he made his way to the Gryffindor table.

'Bones, Edgar!'

'HUFFLEPUFF!' shouted the hat again, and Edgar scuttled off to sit next to Archie.

'Boot, John!'

'RAVENCLAW!'

The table second from the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with John as he joined them.

And like this, the names continued, placing students in the four houses. Then finally…

'_Evans, Lily!'_

_Lily walked forward on trembling legs and sat down upon the rickety stool. Professor McGonagall dropped the Sorting Hat on her head._ This was it…

_Barely a second after it had touched the dark red hair, the hat cried, __'GRYFFINDOR!'_

_Severus__ let out a tiny groan. Lily took off the hat, handed it back to Professor McGonagall, then hurried toward the cheering Gryffindors, but as she went she glanced back at Snape, and there was a sad little smile on her face. _Well, then… It was Gryffindor, after all.

Perhaps, she thought with a bit of hope, Severus would be in Gryffindor too. _She reached the table and watched as Sirius moved up the bench to make room for her. She took one look at him, recognized him as the rude boy in the train, folded her arms, and firmly turned her back on him._

[Rowling, Deathly Hallows, p. 354-355]

The roll call continued. Lily watched as one by one the line of first years grew less. Lupin joined the Gryffindor table, as well as the short, chubby boy that Lily learned was called Peter Pettigrew. Shortly after he joined the table, Professor McGonagall called the next name.

'Potter, James!'

Lily saw the boy with jet-black hair walk up to the stool and sit down. She scowled. It was the other rude boy. After a moments pause, the hat shouted out, 'GRYFFINDOR!'

Lily groaned. _Fantastic_. Now she had to deal with _him_ too? The Potter boy, grinning from ear to ear, made his way to the Gryffindor table and sat beside her. Feeling frustrated at the fact that she could no longer face left (because Black was sitting there) _or_ right (because then she'd be facing Potter) Lily faced front and put her head down onto the empty table. James and Sirius looked at her amused, then at each other, grinning.

A couple of minutes later, Professor McGonagall called, 'Ramnath, Kalah!'

Lily looked up quickly. Kalah nervously made her way to the stool, sat down and had the hat placed on her head. It had barely touched her head when it shouted, 'GRYFFINDOR!'

Beaming, Kalah hurried toward the Gryffindor table. Lily shot her a wide grin before returning her head onto the table.

_When only a dozen students remained to be sorted, Professor McGonagall called out 'Snape, Severus!'_

Lily looked up again. She saw as Severus walked to the stool and placed the hat upon his head. There was a pause.

'SLYTHERIN!'

Lily sighed sadly. _And Severus moved off to the other side of the Hall, away from Lily, to where the Slytherins were cheering him, to where a tall blond-haired boy, a prefect badge gleaming upon his chest, patted Severus on the back as he sat down beside him._

[Rowling, Deathly Hallows, p. 355]

* * *

Soon after, once all the first years were sorted, Professor Dumbledore stood up, his arms opened wide.

'Welcome,' he said. 'Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! I would like to say a few words… but of course, we all know that no one would be paying attention to my eccentric words with an empty stomach. So, please… let the feast begin!'

And he sat back down, his eyes twinkling.

Lily giggled. Professor Dumbledore certainly was… _amusing_. She turned back to the table and her mouth fell open. The dishes in front of her were now piled with food. Lily had never seen so many things she liked to eat on one table: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, fries, pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup… The list seemed to go on.

'Finally!' James laughed as he watched Sirius pile on food onto the plate in front of him. James himself was also choosing food – though his plate wasn't, and he doubted whether it ever would be – as piled as Sirius'.

James relished the fact that he was in Gryffindor. It wasn't much of a surprise, considering his parents had both belonged to the house, but he had to agree that it still was a hidden fear of his that he would end up in Slytherin.

What pleased him _more_ was the fact that Sirius was in Gryffindor too. He was the only one in his entire family that hadn't belonged to Slytherin house. James brought his plate closer to him and began to eat. He glanced at the girl beside him, Evans was her name, he believed; she was looking at Sirius with a deep look of disgust on her face.

When everyone had eaten as much as they could, the remains of the food faded from the plates, leaving them sparkling clean as before. A moment later the desserts appeared. Blocks of ice cream in every flavour you could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate éclairs and jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, jelly, rice pudding… Once again, the list seemed to go on.

James helped himself to a treacle tart. He looked up at the High Table. All of the teachers were seated there. Professor Dumbledore seemed to be in deep conversation with Professor McGonagall, his eyes twinkling. James also recognized the giant from the platform.

At last the desserts too disappeared and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again. The Hall fell silent.

'Ahem – now for my few words, as we are all fed and watered and many of you can finally hear and understand me,' the girl beside James giggled, 'I have a few start-of-term notices to give you.'

'First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. Also… no magic should be used between classed in the corridors. Mr Filch has already begun to complain about the Duelling that seems to have taken place shortly before arriving to this hall.' Two tall boys, sitting four seats away from James, began to chuckle.

'Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term,' continued Dumbledore. 'Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Knight. Now, run along to your beds, which are as warm and comfortable as you could possibly imagine. Prefects, you know what to do!'

Lily got up quickly, impatient to get away from the two boys sitting next to her. She found Kalah across the table and ran to catch up with her.

'First years here! First years!'

'Hey, Kalah?' asked Lily.

'Hm?'

'Er… we get to have classes with other Houses right?'

'Yep… Charms with Ravenclaws, Herbology with Hufflepuffs, Potions with Slytherins…' She wrinkled her nose.

'Really?' Lily's face brightened.

'Why?' Kalah looked at her curiously. 'You know… Gryffindors usually _hate_ Slytherins.'

'Why's that?'

Kalah shrugged. 'My sister was telling me. They've hated each other _forever_.'

But Lily wasn't listening anymore. She would have classes with Severus. She was relieved. At least they could still be friends.

'Ugh, Potions with _Slytherins_,' said a loud voice which seemed to have overheard Lily and Kalah's conversation. Lily looked round to see the Potter boy talking to his friend, Black. Black grinned, looking _extremely _pleased that he was not a part of Slytherins that Potter seemed to despise very much.

'I know,' he responded. 'Especially _Snivellus._'

Lily looked appalled by the modified version of Severus' name. She shot the boys a look of deep disgust and scurried off with Kalah, who was following one of the Prefects.

The first years were led through a very long corridor, at the end of which hung a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress. James grinned. _The Fat Lady_.

'Password?' she said.

'Fizzing Whizbees,' said the tall Prefect, and the portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall. They all scrambled through it and found themselves in the Gryffindor common room, a cozy, round room full of squashy armchairs.

The tall boy – James simply called him Prefect Boy in his mind – directed the girls through one door to their dormitories and the boys through another. At the top of a spiral staircase – they were obviously in one of the towers – James found their beds at last: five four-posters hung with deep red, velvet curtains. Their trunks had already been brought up. James found himself sharing a room with Sirius, a shabby-looking boy named Remus Lupin, a stock boy who was called Frank Longbottom and the rather fat mousy-haired boy, Peter Pettigrew. They all changed into their pyjamas and went to bed immediately.

* * *

Lily walked into her dormitory, noticing that her trunk was already at the foot of her bed. Moments later, she was followed in by several other girls. Lily was thrilled to discover that Kalah was her roommate, as well as a blond-haired girl with a round, friendly face, named Alice Prewett, a tall, brown-haired girl named Mary MacDonald and a girl with vibrant reddish-brown hair of shoulder-length , who Lily later discovered was named Marlene Sanders.

Lily, too, was feeling quite tired. She slipped into bed quickly and as soon as her head hit the pillow, found herself already asleep.

Lily got up early the next morning. Getting dressed quickly and grabbing her backpack, she left her dormitory at eight with Kalah and Alice to pick up their timetables and get some breakfast in the Great Hall. Once they received their timetables from the Head Boy and Head Girl, they set off to class.

Lily looked down at her timetable. Her courses were very intriguing indeed. That day's timetable was as follows:

_9:00 – 10:00 - Transfiguration_

_10:00 – 11:00 - Charms_

_11:00 – 12:00 – Defence Against the Dark Arts_

_12:00 – 1:00 – LUNCH_

_1:00 – 2:00 – Herbology_

_2:00 – 4:00 – Potions_

Despite the subjects, Lily was thrilled about going to her classes. She wondered how teachers would teach a subject. At nine o'clock sharp, Lily made her way to first period class: Transfiguration. Professor McGonagall was already sitting at her desk as the students piled into class.

'Transfiguration,' began Professor McGonagall, 'is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts. Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned.'

* * *

James was taken aback. He had heard that Professor McGonagall was strict, but he hadn't expected her to be that strict that fast.

James had gotten up early that day. He had gone down to the Great Hall with Sirius to get his timetable at around eight thirty, since his first class was to start at nine o'clock.

And now he was in McGonagall's Transfiguration class.

Momentarily, Professor McGonagall was changing an empty desk in the front row into a goat, and back again. Everyone gasped, evidently impressed.

'Don't get too excited,' said Professor McGonagall briskly. 'You won't be changing furniture into animals for a long time.'

James watched as Professor McGonagall waved her wand at the blackboard at the front of the class and writing automatically appeared on it. After taking a lot of complicated notes, they were given a match and were told to change it into a needle.

By the end of the class, only James and Lily had made any progress. Professor McGonagall showed the class how James' match had gone all silver and how Lily's had acquired a point. She gave them both an approving nod.

Lily was particularly excited about her next class: Charms. She entered the room with Kalah, who also had the class with her and took a seat at the second row. Moments later, Potter and Black followed, and took the seat directly behind the two (a tiny groan escaped from Lily at this point). Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, was a tiny little wizard who had to stand on a pile of books to see over his desk. He began the class taking roll call and went on to explain the wonders of the class; Lily was listening intently to his words.

Lily's next class was Defence Against the Dark Arts. Lily was especially thrilled about this class because the Gryffindors shared D.A.D.A. with the Slytherins – this meant that Severus was in that class with her. As Lily entered the class, Severus followed her and took the seat next to her.

As expected, the first class did not involve much use of magic. The teacher, a round, white-haired man named Professor Gorgenstein, led the class, talking about the horrors of the Dark Arts and how important it was to take his class seriously. In the meantime, James Potter and Sirius Black were mimicking what he was doing from their seat behind both Lily and Severus. It was only the first day, but Black had already taken to kicking the back of Severus' chair every few minutes. Potter, on the other hand, had a rubbish habit of poking Lily in the back and asking her for a quill – he had done this five times already, even though Lily had told him no the first time.

After lunch, which followed shortly afterward, Lily and Kalah were joined by Alice Prewett, Marlene McKinnon, and Frank Longbottom and all four of them made their way to fourth period Herbology.

Herbology class took place in the greenhouses behind the castle and was taught by a tall witch with green hair, whose name was Professor Chubs. Lily discovered easily that this is the class where young witches and wizards learnt how to take care of all the strange plants and fungi, and found out what they were used for. At first, this class seemed to Lily as though it would be quite simple, as she had often helped her mother with planting flowers and such in her backyard. But she learned quite quickly that the plants that Hogwarts kept were… odd. Quite odd indeed.

* * *

James' last class of the day was a double period of Potions. Potions lessons took place down in one of the dungeons. It was colder here than up in the main castle, but it had a comfortable air about it as James entered it. A man was already in the room. He was enormously fat, with little hair on his head and a pot-like belly. He smiled broadly as students began to stream into the class.

James took a seat in the fourth row beside Sirius. After a while, when most of the class had appeared, James noticed that Snape was sitting in the second row beside the Evans girl. James nudged Sirius, who was gazing absent-mindedly at the teacher. He looked around at Snape and a smile curved in his lips.

Sirius spoke, loud enough for Snape to hear. 'Oi _Snivellus_, I think you're in the wrong place! Hogwarts is only for witches and wizards, you know. Not for greasy little gits who don't wash their hair!'

Snape looked around with an astonished expression on his face, which quickly transformed into a scowl. He seemed not to have noticed James or Sirius' presence in the room. But before he could open his mouth to respond, Lily was already talking.

'You're right. It _is _only for witches and wizards. Definitely _not_ for rude little berks like you!' she shot back at him before turning around promptly without another word. James looked rather taken aback for a moment before he turned to Sirius with a shrug and a grin. And before Sirius' indignant response, the fat, old man spoke.

'Ah… welcome to first year Potions. Well… you are all here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making. Potions are extremely important, and though there is little wand-waving and incantations, it is indeed magic. I'm sure everyone has their books, _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_?

There was a loud shuffling as everyone reached into their bags and pulled out a thick book.

'Very good, very good,' said Slughorn, nodding. 'Now, I want you to start off with a very simple potion. You can find instructions on page twenty-three of your textbooks… don't worry,' he added hastily, 'I don't expect any masterpieces. This is just a little test to see where everyone's at, you know.'

James and Sirius worked together. Slughorn was walking around the class for the majority of the period, surveying all the students. He watched as they weighed nettles and crushed snake fangs, offering compliments and constructive criticism along the way. The fat, mousy-haired boy, Peter Pettigrew, was having a rather bit of trouble with this, and was dropping and spilling ingredients everywhere.

At the end of the class, Slughorn went around to each cauldron, offering his take on their performance. He stopped and James and Sirius' cauldron, giving them an approving nod, then turned to Severus and Lily's. He gave out an exclamation of happiness.

'Ah! Look at this! Wonderful job, wonderful job! Well done, Miss Evans, Mr Snape! Ten points to Gryffindor and Slytherin!'

Everyone turned around to look curiously. Perhaps it was the fact that both Gryffindor _and_ Slytherin were earning points… for the _same_ potion. Whispers started to fill the room.

'A Gryffindor and a Slytherin? Working together?'

'Why's she working with _him_?'

'Odd…'

Lily flushed. Everyone was staring at both her and Snape. What was wrong with her working with Snape? Did Gryffindors _have_ to hate Slytherins? The bell rang and Lily scurried out of the classroom, relieved to break everyone's gaze on her.

She appeared in the common room later on and found Kalah, Alice and Frank sitting in the corner on top of a pair of overstuffed chairs. Lily collapsed on the chair next to them. Her first day, she reflected, was quite… interesting.

* * *

'Flying lessons!'

A tall woman with short, spiky hair was standing on the grass outside Hogwarts castle.

James grinned. This was it. He would get to ride a broomstick by himself.

'My name is Madam Knight, and I'm going to be your flight instructor,' said Madam Knight. 'Now, as you know, broom flying is very common among witches and wizards, whether for travel or for entertainment. So it is important for you all to know the basics at least. Now, all of you have broomsticks at your right. First thing I want you lot to do is to hold out your right arm and say _up_.'

Everyone was talking all at once. For the next few minutes, students held out their hands, consecutively saying, '_Up'._

For James, the broomstick at his right had flown to his hand at first try. He turned and grinned at Sirius, who was having a bit of a talking match with his own broom.

'Oi, _up_. Up. Up. _Up, _dammit! Ah – _ow_ – son of a –' Sirius rubbed the spot on his forehead, sure that it was going to leave a bruise the next day. James laughed at his choice of vocabulary.

Lily had managed to get her broomstick into her hands at around the third try, but found that Severus was having a miserable time. Having realized that he was the only one to whom a broomstick did not fly, he quickly bent down and picked it up.

'Alright then,' said Madam Knight, once Snape had his broom clutched tightly in his hand and the sniggering had died down. 'Now, mount your brooms and lightly kick off from the ground, keeping your brooms steady.'

James eagerly mounted his broom. Sirius followed suit. Snape, who was still nerved by his inability to make the broomstick come to his hands, did not even attempt to mount his.

Looking around at his surroundings, James promptly kicked off from the ground, shooting upward and hovering some ten feet above the ground.

'Well done, Mr Potter! Well done indeed!'

* * *

Lily looked up in the middle of mounting her broom, shielding her eyes from the sun with her hand. She sighed exasperatedly. It was _Potter_ again. By now, Lily had come to the definite conclusion that she didn't like this boy. Or his friend, Black, either.

She finally mounted her broom moments later. Many other students were starting to kick off from the ground too. Lily watched as Kalah zoomed past her, floating up in the air. Lily kicked off lightly, and was quite surprised (even though she had already witnessed it) to find that the broomstick hovered. She leant forward slightly with a grin and the broom, obeying her movements, thrust forward.

_Easy_, thought Lily, now hovering quite high herself. No wonder witches and wizards use brooms! Lily smiled as she flew higher into the air. She wondered how fast the broomstick would be able to fly. Just as she thought this, she leant forward and the broomstick seemed to go out of control.

It happened very fast. The broom swerved up, then down, and then with enormous power, sped up and zoomed forward. Terrified, Lily held tighter; but this only seemed to make the broom go faster.

Finally, Lily flew right into another student in the air, who seemed to have not noticed her coming his way. He turned just in time to see her slam into him hard, and together, they stumbled off their broomsticks, falling to the ground with incredible speed.

Lily's scream of terror never left her. She heard screaming all about her, unable to distinguish between the voices, as well as a whistle, which she later figured belonged to Madam Knight. Finally, she blacked out…

* * *

James opened his eyes, feeling groggy. His body was aching, especially his left arm, which was particularly killing him. His head was also throbbing with dizziness.

He got up slowly, wincing with pain and realizing that his left arm was in a sling. He was in the hospital wing. How had he gotten there? The last thing he remembered was Evans crashing into him at flying lessons…

James turned his head slowly, and to his surprise, saw her lying on a separate bed next to him. He looked at her closely. She was sleeping (he _hoped_ she was, at least). Her dark red hair was in wavy locks about her face and contrasted sharply to her now pale skin. James could see the light brown freckles on her nose. He thought briefly that she looked like an angel, sleeping peacefully on the bed like that…

James shook his head, still feeling dizzy as a young nurse entered the room, looking at him delightfully.

'Ah, you're awake! Very good, very good, then! I'm Madam Pomfrey, the assistant nurse here. I shall be calling Madam Lambridge shortly.' She beamed at James.

James nodded, and then slowly indicated to Lily on his right. 'Is she… er…?' he began, with a hint of anxiety in his voice.

'Oh, don't you worry! She's fine. A bit of a concussion and a broken ankle, but other than that, she's perfectly fine. Now, you just relax while I get the head nurse.'

James nodded and fell back on his bed as Madam Pomfrey left, feeling slightly relieved. He turned back to look at Lily. After a few moments, she stirred. Her eyes fluttered open and James saw her emerald-green eyes meet his hazel ones. He looked away quickly and sat up on his bed.

* * *

Lily's head was killing her. She couldn't remember how it was she ended up at the hospital wing, but one look at Potter brought it all back. She was flying and in all her excitement, had lost control of the broom and crashed. It was one thing that she had crashed on her own, but an entirely different matter that she had pulled Potter down with her. Whether or not he was a rude berk, he hadn't deserved it.

Lily sat up in her bed. Potter was avoiding her gaze. She wondered if he hated her. Not that she'd mind at all, of course; it was the reasoning behind it that made her feel guilty. Lily noticed the sling on James' left arm and finally spoke.

'Are you… okay?'

James didn't look at her, but nodded stiffly. Lily pressed on.

'It must hurt… If it's broken and all. Sorry… it was a really stupid thing I did out there. You must hate me.'

And with that, he glanced at her quickly and shook his head. 'It doesn't hurt all that much,' he said hastily, examining his left arm. 'The nurses at Hogwarts are really good. My dad told me about them. I heard they could re-grow bones and everything.'

'Really?' It was hard for Lily to keep the amazement from her voice. Whether it was from Snape or Potter, stories about magic were very alluring.

'I've never been on a broomstick,' said Lily quickly, looking down in embarrassment. 'It's just… I've always wanted to fly.'

James nodded understandingly. 'Yeah, it's really great. Minus the fall and all,' he added jokingly with a shrug. Lily grinned and looked as though she were about to say something when Madam Pomfrey retuned with an older woman at her side. The older woman spoke.

'Ah, you're both awake, now!' she said, looking from Lily to James. 'You both had us all very worried! You fell down about thirty feet at high speed, you know! And on the first week of school!'

Lily looked down again, her face flaming with embarrassment.

'Don't worry about it now, dear,' said Madam Lambridge kindly, noticing Lily's embarrassment. 'These things happen. It's not much of an injury. You'll both be able to leave this evening, in any case. Once you've both taken your medication.'

'Thanks, Madam Lambridge,' said James, reaching across the table next to his bed and grabbing his glasses.

Lily couldn't help but laugh at Potter's face as he looked down at his glasses and saw that they were broken.

* * *

Lily woke up the next morning feeling perfectly fine. She quickly got dressed, grabbed her backpack and headed toward first period History of Magic, grabbing an apple at the Great Hall first. On the way there, she stopped to greet Remus Lupin in the Entrance Hall.

History of Magic had quite a dull classroom. As the bell rang, a pearly-white ghostly figure entered through the blackboard.

'Good morning, class.'

Startled, Lily almost fell out of her chair.

'That's a -'

'Ghost,' finished Kalah, nodding and not looking surprised in the least. 'Yep. That's Professor Binns. He's the teacher. You've seen ghosts, remember? At the feast?'

Lily nodded weakly. She had indeed seen such figures, but hadn't bothered to think about what they were. She looked back at Binns. _Yes_, she thought. Binns was _definitely_ a ghost. He had a clear dead air about him.

Professor Binns began talking about his course aims and the purpose of his subject. Lily noted the drone tone in his voice and looked round as everyone was yawning already.

A couple of minutes later, the classroom door burst open and two boys came rushing in. _Potter and Black_. Lily noted the missing sling on Potter's arm. He must be fully healed too, she told herself with relief.

Professor Binns gave them a stern look and the two responded with sheepish-apologetic faces. Lily rolled her eyes. They were going to get detentions on their first week of school, she decided.

Potter planted himself down on the seat behind Lily and Black took the seat next to him. After about a half hour of speaking, Professor Binns assigned them a couple of pages' work in their textbooks.

Lily felt a poke at her shoulder. She turned around, glaring at Potter.

'Do you have a spare quill?' he asked.

Lily sighed. She was about to tell him no, but she still felt a bit guilty about what had happened yesterday. Reaching for her bag, she pulled out a quill and small bottle of ink and passed it back to him reluctantly.

'Thanks,' he whispered. Lily didn't answer.

* * *

Lily collapsed on an overstuffed one-seat couch and dropped her backpack on the floor. She was followed by Kalah and Alice. It was six in the evening and classes had finally finished for the day.

Lily put her head down against the sofa for a few moments.

'Alright,' said Kalah finally, pulling out a book from her backpack. 'Let's get this over with.'

But just as they got their books open, the portrait burst open and a bunch of boys burst through, laughing. Lily groaned. Was she going to be granted one holy minute without being disturbed by Potter's presence?

Pettigrew was patting him on the back. 'Good job, James,' he squealed. Potter looked rather pleased with himself.

Kalah watched as they entered, with a raised eyebrow. Then she turned back to Lily.

'What did he do this time?'

Frank suddenly appeared behind Lily, his bag slung over one shoulder.

'Apparently, he put a Sticking Charm on Filch's door. You know how Filch can't do magic… He's a Squib, remember?'

'Squib? What's that?' asked Lily with curiosity.

'Well,' responded Alice thoughtfully. 'It's the opposite of Muggle-born. When the parents are witches and wizards and the child isn't.'

'Oh…'

'Right,' said Kalah, realization coming to her. 'And now Filch can't get out since he can't do magic. Right?'

'Yep,' said Frank, nodding his head. 'But Professor McGonagall just got there and let him out. You should have seen it. He was cursing all over the place.'

Lily winced. Stupid Potter. Why couldn't he just leave everyone alone?

* * *

Halloween, Lily found, arrived far too quickly. It was already nearing the end of October and everyone was talking excitedly about the upcoming Halloween feast. Lily, who was quite eager to witness Halloween with magic, was hardly an exception.

Night fell early on October the thirty-first and Lily, Kalah and Alice walked excitedly into the Great Hall. The decorations were breathtaking. A thousand live bats fluttered from the walls and ceilings (to Alice's horror), while a thousand more swooped over the tables in low black clouds, making the candles in the pumpkins stutter. The feast appeared suddenly on the golden plates, as it had at the start-of-term banquet.

As Lily reached for a baked potato, the talk turned to their families.

'You know, I've got no idea what percent of magic I am,' Kalah was saying, as she buttered a piece of toast. 'See, my mum's a witch, but she was half-blood, 'cause _her_ mum was a Muggle… or was it her dad? And my dad's a Muggle-born, but that makes him a wizard still, doesn't it? Because he can do magic?' She shrugged, giving up. 'All the same, I can do magic, so I just don't bother with the details.'

The others laughed. 'My parents are both magic,' piped up Alice. 'I pretty much grew up with magic.' She caught Lily's interested expression. 'Trust me… It's not all that great,' she assured. 'We've got all sorts of horrible things in our backyard. I never go out there anymore because of them. Besides, with magic parents, you've always got lots to live up to. Like say,' Alice made her voice slightly higher, as though imitating somebody, "Gregory Pickett next door has already shown his first bit of magic. Why can't you just hurry up and fly, Alice?"

Lily laughed.

'My parents are the same,' agreed Marlene.

'What about you, Mary?' asked Lily to the girl across from her.

'I'm Muggle-born,' said Mary. 'My parents are both Muggles. Bit of a shock for them, you know.'

Lily nodded. 'Me too. Except, well I sort of already knew about magic and stuff _before_ the letter came.'

'Really?' asked Kalah. Lily nodded.

'Uh-huh. Sev, he lives in my neighbourhood. So he'd always tell me about it.'

'Sev?' asked Marlene. 'You mean that boy from Slytherin?'

'Yes… Why, what's wrong with that? Everybody keeps asking me that,' said Lily, her eyebrows furrowing.

'Nothing,' said Marlene, shrugging. 'I guess it's just really… _rare_… to find a Gryffindor that's friends with a Slytherin.'

'But we were friends _before_ we knew what house we were in!'

'Well, that's okay. Snape doesn't seem so bad anyway. Just a bit odd, that's all.'

Everyone seemed to agree with that.

* * *

Lily left the Great Hall feeling full and tired. As she walked past a corridor in the first floor, she heard a hoarse scream.

'Let me out! Let me out!'

Startled, Lily stopped abruptly.

'I'll see you back in the common room,' she told Kalah and Alice hastily as she followed the noise. She turned a corner and found Potter and Black standing outside a doorway, with their wands extended forward. Potter was carrying an extra wand in his other hand. A loud thumping noise was coming from the door.

The lavatory, Lily realized. Bewildered, she drew closer. James and Sirius still had not noticed her presence. A thumping sound was heard behind the door again, but this time it was accompanied by a voice Lily recognised. Her eyes went wide.

'Sev!'

Lily ran forward, pushing a startled James and Sirius out of the way promptly.

'Alohomora!' The door to a girls' lavatory opened quickly and a white-faced Snape emerged. James and Sirius burst into laughter.

Lily rounded on them. She felt her guilt disintegrate. 'That wasn't very nice!'

Sirius seemed supremely unconcerned, but James' grin fell a little, though it was still smug. James shrugged. 'He deserved it,' he said, smiling at Sirius.

'He didn't do anything!'

'Sure he did. He was _being_ a Slytherin.'

Lily made a sound of frustration. 'What's your problem, anyway?' she demanded.

James shrugged again. He paused and then leant forward; inspiration seemed to have hit him. 'I'm just saving everybody from having to look at Snivellus' ugly face.'

'Yeah? Well, who's going to save them from _your_ ugly face?' retorted Lily. James looked confused for a moment before she pointed her wand at James and exclaimed, 'Furnunculus!'

A jet of light shot from her wand and hit James square in the face. Shocked, James put his hands to his nose, where great ugly boils were springing up. Then Lily, grabbing Snape's wand from James with one hand, and grabbing Snape's wrist with the other, turned on her heel and walked away quickly.

* * *

James was more bewildered than angry. He hadn't felt as thought he'd done anything wrong in particular. After all, it was only _Snape_. Surely Evans didn't think that messing around was Snape was such a bad thing? Sirius was too busy laughing; James couldn't tell whether this was from the prank played on Snape or James' physical state after Evans' spell hit him.

Sirius wiped tears from the corner of his eyes, shaking his head with a grin. 'Ah… you've got to admit, mate… She got you good.'

James pointed his wand at himself and quickly muttered the counter-curse. As he made his way back to his dormitory with Sirius (still laughing) at his side, James couldn't help get the feeling that there was something different about that Evans girl.

* * *

History of Magic was first period the next day. Feeling groggy, James pulled himself out of bed. He hastily pulled on his clothes and grabbed his backpack before heading down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

Sirius was already there, eating, as James joined him at the table. He looked up at James' arrival and grinned toothily, revealing half a muffin in his mouth.

''Morning, mate,' he said, still chewing, 'Have a muffin. They're great!'

James laughed as he watched Sirius stuff his face with food.

'Nah, that's okay,' said James, grinning and reaching for an apple instead. 'I think I'll go for something a little more appetising.'

Sirius shrugged and took another bite from his muffin.

* * *

Lily turned away, disgusted. _What a pig_, she thought. Lily was still quite angry with Potter and Black the next day. Not only were they stupid gits, but they were slobs as well. She got up from the table and made her way to History of Magic.

Professor Binns was droning on in class as usual. As he began to talk about the first wizards of time, the classroom door burst open and Potter and Black both came rushing in. Professor Binns gave them a stern look, which they responded to with sheepish, apologetic faces.

After about a half hour of speaking, Professor Binns assigned them a couple of pages' work in their textbooks. Lily felt a poke at her shoulder. She turned around, glaring at Potter.

'Do you have a spare quill?'

'No,' she told him shortly, and then turned around firmly and returned to her work. The incident at their first flying lesson was forgotten.

James sighed, looking around. He was already late for History of Magic, but on top of that, he had forgotten his quill case. Evans certainly wasn't helping him, and James could pretty much guarantee that Sirius didn't have a quill – even for himself. He leant over to his left.

'Pst! Lupin!'

Remus turned to face James.

'Extra quill?' asked James.

With a small smile, Remus reached into his bag and pulled out a quill and a small bottle of ink. He handed them to James, who took them grinning.

'Thanks, mate.'

* * *

As the Christmas season approached, it was snowing more and more outside. James was quite excited about the holidays, but Sirius seemed much less enthusiastic.

'I have to go home and listen to my mum tell me about how Dumbledore was stupid for letting Muggle-borns in,' he was telling James and Remus one particularly snowy day as they trudged through the snow on the grounds of Hogwarts.

'Why?' asked James. 'Does it matter? I mean, everyone at Hogwarts can do magic, right? Well… except for Filch,' he added grinning.

Sirius returned the grin, but then his expression turned grim when he responded.

'_I_ don't think it matters. But my mum and dad definitely do. They actually think You-Know-Who's got the right idea, with all the wizard race purification rubbish.' He made a face as James looked at him, looking shocked. Remus walked alongside them, apparently deep in thought; he was glancing up at the sky nervously every so often.

'That's why I hate going back,' said Sirius hastily, troubled by the look on James' face. 'And then there's my little brother and Kreacher…'

James and Sirius continued the topic of Sirius' home-life as they passed a hut a little off the edge of the Forbidden Forest. As they approached the cabin, the door opened and Lily, Kalah and Alice came out. They were talking excitedly with Hagrid, the school gamekeeper.

'Bye, Hagrid!' said Lily, waving.

Hagrid chuckled and waved back. Lily spotted James and Sirius as she headed back toward the castle and stopped momentarily to stick her tongue out at them. James watched as she walked away.

'Oi, Hagrid!' said Sirius. Hagrid turned round and noticed James, Sirius and Remus, heading toward him.

'You lot,' he said gruffly. 'What'd you do this time?'

James and Sirius grinned. They had met Hagrid the second week of school when Sirius had thrown Dungbombs in the Great Hall during dinner. They were often sent to Hagrid to complete a detention in the Forbidden Forest.

'Nothing,' said James innocently. 'Maybe we just wanted to see you!'

Hagrid's beard twitched, but he shook his head and returned to his cabin. James turned round to Sirius and Remus, looking as though an important thought had come to him.

* * *

'I heard they've got the new treacle tarts for the Christmas feast,' announced James. 'I was thinking, since none of us are going to be round for Christmas, we should go down and try some.'

Sirius grinned. 'Yeah, I reckon we deserve it after having worked so bloody hard since September, you know.'

'Very true… perhaps, tonight? Remus?'

Remus was rather quiet. He looked up at James, looking slightly pale.

'Er… no… I can't. My mum… she's ill. I have to go and see her tonight.'

A deep furrow appeared between James' eyebrows. 'Ill? Oh… alright. You'd better go then.'

Remus nodded quickly, averting his gaze. James frowned at him for a few moments, and then turned his attention toward Sirius.

'What say you, Black?'

Sirius grinned. 'Definitely, Potter.'

* * *

Lily was walking back to the castle with Kalah and Alice. She had just been visiting Hagrid at his hut. Professor McGonagall had asked her to deliver a note to Hagrid about the Christmas feast and Kalah and Alice had volunteered to come along.

Lily, like many of the first years, was going home for Christmas. As excited as she was to see her parents and as anxious as she was to make up with Petunia, a part of her didn't want to go back…

Nonsense, she told herself, shaking her head. Of course she would want to go home. At least Snape would be going home as well, she thought.

The day before Christmas break began, Lily made a visit to Dumbledore's office. She had been giving Christmas cards to all the professors and had decided to make one for Dumbledore as well. That day, she saw him emerge from a staircase guarded by a stone gargoyle. He had not noticed her and was turning and walking away when Lily called out to him.

'Er… Professor Dumbledore!'

Dumbledore turned around, saw Lily and smiled.

'Ahh… Miss Evans! How are you on this fine day?'

'I'm fine, sir… Er… I just wanted to give you this.'

She held out the card and Dumbledore's face lit up.

'Miss Evans… I'm touched.' He took the card gently. 'You know,' he added, after a pause, reaching into his robes. 'I think I might have something for _you_ as well.' And with a flourish, he pulled out a lily and held it out for her.

Lily's eyes brightened with happiness as she took the flower. 'Thank you, professor!' And she kissed him on the cheek before waving and hurrying off.

* * *

When Lily had returned back to King's Cross the next day, she found her mother, father and older sister waving at her happily. Lily ran into her parents' arms, grinning with glee. Then she turned to Petunia, looking somewhat nervous, but Petunia pulled her into a hug as well – all enmity was forgotten.

As Lily's sadness of their Platform 9 ¾ fight had disappeared, Petunia's anger had as well. During the Christmas break, she was eager to tell Lily everything that had happened during their time apart, from school to home-life.

'We had a Christmas party at school. Mrs Cuttingham brought us mince pies and everything!'

Lily had brought home some candy as well, but as soon as she presented it to Petunia, she felt it was a mistake. Petunia was still panicking an hour after her Chocolate Frog leapt out of the window.

Lily still went to the park every week to meet Severus. They often sat on the swings, attempting to complete their holiday homework.

'What's that thing found in a goat's stomach again?' Lily asked Severus one day, while gently swaying on the swings. Lily cringed. It reminded her of the incident during her first Flying lesson.

'A bezoar,' said Snape, looking up from his Transfiguration essay.

'Thanks.'

Lily rushed down Christmas morning to find a large number of presents underneath the tree. She had also received presents from Kalah and Alice as well. Neither Mr nor Mrs Evans could understand how they had appeared there, considering they hadn't been there the night before. Petunia was looking slightly sour some time later, once she had distinguished the large difference between the number of presents both she and Lily had received. Lily seemed too happy to notice this. She had even gotten a gift from Severus.

* * *

_Dear Sirius,_

_Happy Christmas! Thanks for the gift! It'll come in mighty handy! You won't believe what I got you. Hope you like it! Mum and Dad are both excited; they want to do something special today. Probably because it's my first Christmas home from Hogwarts. Wish you could come. Hope your folks aren't dragging you down, mate. See you when term starts again. Oh, and make sure to bring… the requested item._

_From, James Potter_

James rolled up the parchment and sealed it. He then walked up to his window and attached his letter, along with a small parcel to his owl's feet.

'Alright, Tawny,' he said, speaking to the large brown-speckled owl perched majestically atop the windowsill. 'This is for Sirius. Number 12 Grimmauld Place. Alright?'

Tawny blinked once, and James took this to mean she understood.

'OK. Safe flight, then.'

The owl flew off, and James turned from the window. He had already sent his present to Remus with his father's owl. He picked up the box of Bulbadox powder that Sirius had sent him, gazing at it admiringly.

It would come in very handy indeed.

'James? Hurry up, we're leaving!' a voice called from downstairs.

'Coming, Dad!'

James hurried downstairs, only to see his father and mother at the foot of the stairs; his dad was carrying a small box in his hands.

'Right,' he said, grinning at the curious look on his son's face. 'This... is an important present. And I want you to take care of it, alright?'

'What is it?' asked James, as he took the parcel from his dad's hand.

'Open it,' Mr Potter promptly. James sat down on the stairs and opened the package. Inside was a fluid-like silvery gray cloth. It was strange to the touch, like water woven into the material.

'It's an invisibility cloak,' said Mr Potter cheerfully.

James looked awestruck as he looked back at his father. 'No _way_. An invisibility –!'

Mr Potter nodded, still grinning. 'Try it on, then.'

James threw the cloak around his shoulders and looked down. He gave a yell.

'_Merlin_!' When he had looked down at his feet, they were gone. He dashed to the nearest mirror. Sure enough, his reflection looked back at him, just his head suspended in midair, his body completely invisible. He pulled the cloak over his head and his reflection vanished completely.

'Wow, Dad… This is _amazing_! Thanks so much!' He threw the cloak off and gave his father a large hug.

* * *

Lily stood back on platform 9 ¾ a week later with a backpack in her hands. This contained all her Christmas presents.

'You take care, now,' Mrs Evans was saying, as she adjusted Lily's robes. 'Make sure you write often.'

Lily smiled at them and nodded. She turned to Petunia.

'Bye, Tuney.' Petunia looked somewhat reluctant to answer. She nodded stiffly and waved, with a small smile on her face.

'Bye, then.'

* * *

'You take care now, James,' Mrs Potter was saying as she adjusted James' robes. James nodded. 'And try not to get into detention anymore,' added Mrs Potter sternly.

Mr Potter chuckled. 'Yeah, we've got enough disciplinary letters to paper your room by now.'

James grinned, and gave his parents one last hug before departing…

* * *

Lily woke up the next day, ready to start a new term at Hogwarts. She made her way down to the common room to find Kalah and Alice in deep conversation with a girl a little older than her. Lily recognised her as Kalah's older sister. Kalah saw Lily from the corner of her eye and motioned for her to approach.

'Oi, Lily! Oh, here – this is my sister, Neera. Remember I showed you at the Sorting?'

Lily nodded and offered Neera a polite smile. 'Hi, I'm Lily.'

'Hey, Lily, nice to meet you,' she responded. Lily noticed that Neera had the same long, shiny black hair and enchanting eyes as her sister. 'Alright, you three,' added Neera, grabbing her backpack from the sofa next to her, 'I've got to go. I have Arithmancy first thing, and I need to _eat_ before going to that class. It's too bloody hard.'

And with a short wave, she disappeared behind the portrait hole.

Lily had breakfast with Severus that morning. As they ate their way through their pancakes, ignoring the bewildered expressions of the other students, they talked about Potions. Potions, which had become Lily's favourite class, was quite an intriguing subject for the two to talk about, as they were both very good about it, and there were so many branches to talk about. Furthermore, Lily found the class entertaining, especially since Slughorn was quite nice to her. He had often invited her to lunch, along with several other students.

'Unicorn's are really sweet,' Lily was saying. 'And they've got so much magic.'

'That's true,' Snape was saying eagerly. 'Unicorn blood, hair, and horn all have magical properties. Their blood is silver.'

'Really? Wow, that must be pretty.'

'But, there are some people who kill unicorns just to drink their blood.'

Lily looked appalled. '_Kill_ them?'

Snape nodded gravely. 'Because unicorn blood can keep you alive even when you're an inch away from death, even though -'

'Oi, look, it's _Snivellus_!'

Lily cringed. Why couldn't she have a proper conversation with Severus without being rudely interrupted by that idiot, Potter?

'Potter…?'

'Yes, Evans?' came his cheerful reply.

'Just _leave us alone_!'

* * *

At Charms that day, the class was perfecting the Levitation Charm: _Wingardium Leviosa_. At one point, James had levitated his quill so far away that he could no longer aim his spell properly anymore. He called to Lily to pass it back to him.

'Oi, Evans – mind getting my quill for me?

Lily, who had a list of offences from James piling up, shot him a glare.

'Get it yourself.'

'Oh, come on, Evans, don't be like that.'

'Well, when you're ready to apologise to Severus for all the things you've done to him, I'm ready to get your quill for you.'

'_Apologise_? Don't be ridiculous!'

'Well, then… _get it yourself_.' Lily folded her arms and firmly turned her back on him, nose in the air.

James sighed again. There was only one thing to do…

'Remus?'

Remus handed over a spare quill silently.

James grinned. 'Thanks, mate.'

* * *

'Do you have the notes for History of Magic?' Mary MacDonald was asking Kalah one day after class in the Common Room. Kalah gave her an apologetic face.

'Well, I've got some of it, not all,' she said, reaching into her binder. 'It's horrible, that class. Probably useful in the long run, yeah, but dead boring.'

Mary looked slightly crestfallen, collapsing on a cushion on the floor.

'Alice?'

'Yeah, I have them. Which lesson do you want?'

'All of them?' responded Mary sheepishly. 'Honestly, I need to check through them all, I don't know the order or anything.'

Alice laughed, handing over her binder. 'Just do what Lily and I do. We take turns copying down notes, and then get the notes from each other.'

Lily nodded. 'Yeah, it really works. 'Cause sometimes we miss a certain part and the other person has it.'

Kalah frowned. 'Wait… why am _I_ not a part of this genius plan?'

Alice frowned at her sadly. 'Because if we gave you a turn, we'd never get all the notes down.'

Kalah gave her an annoyed look, but then grinned, leaning back on the couch. 'Yeah, that's probably true.'

* * *

Writing their Potions essay was proving harder than they thought. James, Sirius and Remus were all sitting in their dormitories to do their homework; the common room was full at the time. Only Remus, however, seemed to be getting much progress. James and Sirius were generally good at _making_ potions, but writing about them wasn't exactly their strong point.

'This is ridiculous,' said James, looking down at his parchment in frustration and realising that there were only three sentences written down.

'I hear that,' agreed Sirius, who was looking down at his own entirely empty parchment, and then at James' with a look of envy in his face.

At that moment, Frank Longbottom entered the dormitory.

'Oi, Longbottom,' called James. Frank looked up, questioningly.

'Yeah?'

'Did you do that Potions essay?'

Frank cringed. 'Nope. I'm hopeless at Potions, everyone knows that.'

'When's it due, anyway?'

Frank's face seemed to screw up in thought. 'Er… I think Friday.'

_Great_, thought James with further frustration. _He had a solid three days left…

* * *

_

References:

Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and Philosopher's Stone. J. K. Rowling Bloomsbury, London: 1997.

Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. J. K. Rowling Bloomsbury, London: 2007.


	3. Mischief Managed

_**Disclaimer**: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended._

_

* * *

_

**_You were made perfectly to be loved - and surely I have loved you, in the idea of you, my whole life long._**

**_--- Elizabeth Barrett Browning

* * *

_**

January passed quickly, and more assignments allowed February to pass by just as fast. All too soon, it was March and the snow had all melted. Flower buds were starting to appear and birds were chirping loudly once again. It was one such day that Professor Chubs announced a new Herbology project.

'Alright, you lot,' she said gruffly, taking off her gloves after a demonstration of bubotubers. 'You've made quite some progress the last few months. I've noticed all of your performances getting better and better.' She smiled at all of them. 'Now, since this class is ahead of the rest, I figured we'd start a little something from second year. For the remainder of the year, we're going to be working on pruning Abyssinian Shrivelfigs. It's somewhat of a long process, and it may take some of you a longer time, since it is a tad bit advanced. All the same, I figured we'd try it. For this project, I'm going to need you all to split up into pairs.'

Lily gave Kalah a meaningful look and James and Sirius smirked at each other.

'Oh, never mind, never mind,' said Professor Chubs waving her hand dismissively. 'I'll just make up the teams myself. Stand next to your partner when I call you… Abbot and Dodderidge, Lupin and Ramnath, Cooper and Sanders, Evans and Potter…'

Lily let out a groan as Potter shuffled over to her.

'… Prewett and Longbottom, Black and Diggory…'

James sniggered a little too loudly and earned himself a jab in the ribs from Sirius' elbow.

'Bones and MacDonald, Summers and Pettigrew...'

Once Professor Chubs had paired everyone up, she said, 'Everyone got a partner?'

'Yes, Professor Chubs,' the class chorused, and Lily couldn't help noticing that they all sounded unenthusiastic.

James went to bed at around midnight that day. He had just finished yet another Potions essay with Sirius and was generally pleased with its quality.

'Alright, mate,' said Sirius, getting into his bed.

'Where's Remus? I haven't seen him after dinner…' said James, as he got into his own bed.

'He told me he was going to the hospital wing,' said Sirius, shrugging. 'He's not feeling well, I guess.'

'Oh… alright, then.' James lay back and fell asleep instantly.

* * *

James spent the next few weeks of Herbology class working on their assignment. It seemed as though Professor Chubs' expectations of results wasn't very high, which gave James enough reason to take his time. He usually spent his classes laughing with Sirius while the pompous Diggory insisted we was able to finish the work himself. Evans was determinedly ignoring James; he didn't know why, but he found this quite amusing.

Kalah and Remus, however, seemed to be working rather well with each other. Neither of them argued, as Remus was quiet and Kalah was eager to work, so problems were never encountered during their partnership. Lily found herself envying Kalah, as well as Alice and Frank, who had all been partnered with people they did not despise. But as horrible it was working with Potter (he was always dropping materials on purpose to be funny), Lily had to admit that she learned some rather interesting stuff.

'Oi, Sirius. Remember that drawer Filch has?' James was saying as he tipped an armful of withered stalks onto the compost heap.

'Ah, you mean the one that says 'Confiscated and Highly Dangerous'?' asked Sirius.

'Yeah, that one,' responded James with a grin. 'We should break into it one time. You know, I think we've been in that office about a million times and yet we've never considered -'

'You're right… Who knows, there might be some pretty interesting stuff in there.'

'Don't worry mate. Next time. You know; throw a couple of Dungbombs; get Remus to do his distraction thing, and that stuff's as good as ours.'

Lily opened her mouth to object, but then closed it quickly. For one, this wasn't her conversation. Plus, what did she care what these gits did? She was, however, a bit surprised to hear that Remus would be a part of this plan as well. Lily couldn't help thinking that Potter was an utter fool for announcing his plans out in the open. Honestly, what if someone turned them in? Lily considered for a moment that she should, but decided against it. This was none of her business, after all.

'Hey, did you hear about the Whomping Willow?' Black was asking Potter now.

''Course,' said James briskly. 'Really cool, that thing is, I heard it attacks people.'

There was a fair bit of shuffling behind Lily. Lily turned round to find Kalah and Remus at the desk behind their own; Remus was looking rather uncomfortable. Lily didn't know why.

'Yeah, it does,' Sirius was saying. 'The fifth years have even made up a game about it. You know, to see who can touch the trunk.'

'Yeah?' James sounded interested. He could use a good challenge. 'We should try it then!'

Sirius grinned and Lily couldn't help but give out a loud, exasperated sigh. After all, the blokes were going to get themselves killed before they had the chance to graduate.

James turned to face her. In all his arrogance, he seemed to have the idea that she couldn't hear their conversation, even though she was only a feet away.

'Something wrong?' he asked her.

'Er… no, I just made a mistake with my Shrivelfig,' she said quickly.

'Oh…' James turned his attention back to Sirius. Lily caught Kalah's eye and grinned.

* * *

'So this is the Whomping Willow?' James surveyed the plain-looking tree, obviously a bit disappointed.

'Yep,' said Sirius, shading his eyes with a hand. 'Trust me; it's not that easy, touching the trunk. I reckon this is as far as we could go before getting attacked.'

'Er… guys? I don't think this is such a great idea,' Remus was saying.

A crowd of students had gathered near the Forbidden Forest, where the Whomping Willow was planted, each wanting their chance at touching the tree's trunk. Classes for the day had ended.

'Aw, relax, Remus,' said James, patting his friend on the back. 'Oi, look, Bones' having a go!'

As he said it, Edgar Bones lunged for the tree, stretching out his arms.

'Omph!'

A branch of the Whomping Willow caught him round the middle and threw him backward a few feet. A couple of people screamed, but others cheered in apparent enjoyment. Edgar got up and shook himself off, as though he had simply ridden a ride at an amusement park and hadn't just been thrown by a violent tree.

Now many others were eager to try as well. Daniel Finnigan was one foot away from the trunk before he was thrust backward and Will Johnson had tried to simply run at it, which proved unsuccessful. Padman Patil and Barney Brown had tried to attack it from either side, but the Willow simply pulled out more branches and attacked both sides. Even George Figg attempted to touch the trunk; he hadn't come five meters near it before he had turned and run away.

So far, it seemed as though Sirius was the closest in touching the trunk. He had crawled under and was a mere few inches away from the trunk when the Whomping Willow picked him up and threw him backward. Like Edgar, Sirius seemed to think this was fun, though he was sporting quite a few bruises himself. Remus had simply refused to play this game; oddly enough, this seemed to encourage James.

James attempted a similar tactic to Sirius. He crawled on the ground near the Willow and made sure not to touch the tree. He jumped over stray branches and scrambled quickly until he reached the trunk. Finally, when he was near enough stretched his arm and lightly touched the tree. There was a pause and James heard the cheering coming from the students gathered round the outer perimeter of the tree.

And then a large branch swiftly swung over James' head and he ducked. He tried to crawl back, but a branch caught around his ankle and swung him overtop the tree, finally letting go when it slammed him to the ground.

The crowd paused again, looking from James to the Whomping Willow in anxiety. Then, James sat up, grinning and rubbing his right arm. Everyone burst into applause again. Flushing, James got up and walked over to Sirius, who clapped him on the back, grinning. Peter Pettigrew shuffled to them quickly.

'Wow, that was right amazing, James,' he squealed, his eyes bright with joy.

'Er… thanks, Peter,' said James awkwardly, scratching his head.

'OK, OK, lemme try.' Davey Gudgeon was now nearing the tree. He tried the same approach as James, seeing that it had yielded positive results. Instead of crawling on the ground, however, Davey Gudgeon tried a half-shuffle, half-lunge at the tree. Unfortunately, he didn't get very far, because he stepped on an idle branch on the ground. The effect was immediate. The Whomping Willow thrust a branch forward, violently sending Davey back.

But this time, there was no laughter or 'that was fun'. The next thing James knew, Davey was screaming at the top of his lungs, clutching a hand up to his eye. A small crowd gathered around Davey, some people gasping and others looking at him, horrified. James approached them.

Davey was in the middle of the circle of kids, crying and holding his hands to his left eye, from which blood was dripping down.

'We've got to get him to the hospital wing!' said James hoarsely as everyone gawked at the blood that now stained the front of Davey Gudgeon's shirt.

James and Sirius pulled Davey to his feet, and Remus, looking grim, aided in the process. Together, they took Davey to the hospital wing and Peter Pettigrew, looking very frantic, followed behind. The rest of the students remained where they were, looking shocked and watching as Davey was being carried away by James, Sirius, Remus and Peter.

* * *

The news that Davey Gudgeon had nearly lost an eye seemed to have travelled throughout the entire school. Everyone also seemed to have the idea that James Potter and his friends had saved him from certain death. By the end of the week, even those who had witnessed the event were insisting that James had pulled Davey out from the Whomping Willow's clutches when it was ready to strike the last, deadly blow.

James, who wasn't new to getting attention (he got plenty of it at home), was basking in the spotlight. Sirius seemed to be making a variety of stories for this incident, showing the many different ways in which he and his friends had saved Davey.

Even Remus, who hadn't wanted to take part in the game in the first place, was receiving congratulations. In one version of Sirius' modified retelling, Remus was the one cautioning Davey not to attack the Whomping Willow, and even though his advice went unheard, he was still keen on taking him to the hospital wing. The fact that the Remus in the story didn't say the dreaded, 'I told you so', was putting him in new light of popularity.

Even Peter, who had done nothing but tag along, was enjoying attention, as many referred to him as the one that had nursed Davey back to health.

Even Davey Gudgeon, who had gone through the accident and knew first-hand what had happened, approached James and his friends the first chance he got once he was released from the Hospital Wing. Sporting an eye patch on his left eye and a wide grin, he thanked them for saving his life.

* * *

That morning, Dumbledore announced that going near the Whomping Willow was forbidden and James couldn't help feel a tad bit annoyed at the satisfied, relieved expression on Remus' face.

Lily, who had been there to hear James and Sirius talk about the Whomping Willow in Herbology class, was the perhaps most bothered by the incident than anyone. She blamed both Potter and herself for the incident – Potter for participating in that stupid game in the first place – and herself for not informing Professor Dumbledore earlier. She didn't believe for a second any of the ridiculous rumours that were surrounding the incident either. In any case, Lily had finally finished the Herbology project, which meant (to her great relief) that she no longer had to work with Potter.

Lily, Kalah and Alice were more concerned with the upcoming exams. Professor McGonagall had assigned them extra homework to help prepare for the exams and Professor Flitwick had given them review worksheets for Charms. Lily and Snape often spent their afternoons outside, studying for their exams near the lake.

James and Sirius, however, didn't seem too troubled by the exams. In fact, they were more interested in breaking open Filch's special drawer, entitled 'Confiscated and Extremely Dangerous'. The original plan, which consisted of James and Sirius getting caught, Peter throwing a Dungbomb at the other side of the castle, and Remus informing Filch about an attack by Peeves to have him leave his office, was proving to be difficult to follow through.

Because of Peeves' newly acquired fetish with Filch's office, Filch was obligated to remain there for a large period of time during the day. Therefore, it was difficult to blame an attack on Peeves when he was always in Filch's view.

It was a brilliant idea of Peter's that finally got the four of them access to the desired cabinet. The mousy-haired boy, who had had multiple run-ins with Peeves, was very familiar with the poltergeist. Last year, during his first few weeks at Hogwarts, Peter was the prime victim to Peeves' constant mischief, receiving wedgies during breakfast and Dungbomb attacks in the corridors.

After making acquaintances with James, Sirius and Remus, however, Peeves seemed to leave him alone, simply because it was harder to prank all four of them and James and Sirius were a force to be reckoned with. He did, however, still manage to play a few pranks on Peter when he was alone. This knowledge of Peeves enabled Peter to predict most of his locations. On the day they were to execute the plan to investigate Filch's drawer, Peter lured Peeves away into the dungeons of Slytherins. Sirius was sent along with him, told to hide in the shadows; after all, they were in enemy territory as soon as the lamps along the hallway begin to shine green light.

Remus, though hesitant at first, had agreed to help, but only in the curiosity of what Filch considered 'highly dangerous'. His task was to report an attack down at the dungeons. All the professors considered Remus in high regard, so Filch was sure to take his word for it.

Sirius had brought an entire stock of Dungbombs with him when he returned from the Christmas break, but after having used them on various occasions, they were starting to run out. James let out a couple of Dungbombs near the Entrance Hall and allowed himself to be caught by Filch and taken to his office, while Remus watched. Once he was inside, Remus checked his watch. Peter must have begun his encounter with Peeves. He then knocked on Filch's door to report an attack by Peeves to a poor, unsuspecting student. Filch went into a fit of rage and stormed out of the office to find the poltergeist.

'Alright, he's gone,' said Remus, checking round the corner. James leapt out of his chair and whipped open Filch's drawer. He began sifting through its contents as Remus kept watched outside the room.

'Whoa...' James pulled out a small crate of enchanted fireworks.

'Oi, he's coming back!' Remus called, sticking his head back into the room. James pulled out the fireworks and stuffed it into his robes and then returned the empty crate back into the drawer. He slammed the drawer shut and resumed his place at the chair in front of the desk. Filch entered the room, cursing, with a whimpering Peter behind him. Remus seemed to have disappeared.

'Quit your whining, you're all right, boy,' said Filch to Peter in exasperation. 'If you can't defend yourself from a poltergeist, there's no hope for you.'

Peter whimpered some more from behind Filch's back. 'Yes, sir.'

James caught Peter's eye, cocking an eyebrow at him. The corners of Peter's mouth twitched before he resumed his act.

'Now what are you both doing here!?' snapped Filch. They both left quickly, James feeling relieved that Filch had forgotten to punish him.

Remus and Sirius were waiting outside; Sirius was leaning against the wall casually.

'So what did you find in there?' asked Remus eagerly, as they made their way back to the common room.

James reached into his robes and pulled out a single firework from his stash.

'Mischief managed,' said Sirius, his eyes twinkling mischievously.

* * *

Exams took place the next week, and Lily was confident about her success. Even James and Sirius, who hadn't done much studying during the past few weeks, did well. The end-of-the-year feast took place the following week, and the students of Hogwarts spent their last night of the school year with one another.

Before they knew it, it was the last day of the term. Lily bid goodbye to Kalah and Alice with promises of writing to each other throughout the summer.

'Don't worry, my mum won't mind,' Lily was telling an anxious Alice, who was worried because her mother insisted she send letters the proper method via owl, instead of the Muggle way. 'I'll make her not be afraid of owls anymore.'

James was also sharing a goodbye with Sirius, Remus and Peter. Like Lily, they promised to keep in touch over the summer. However, James had also extended an invitation to Sirius to stay over. Sirius, who would love nothing better than to stay at James' house and away from his own, grinned and told him to keep the offer open, mostly because he knew he wouldn't be allowed to go… for now at least.

* * *

And then, after a couple of hours, they were all back at King's Cross station. Lily found her parents standing next to each other, beside a stiff-looking Petunia. She hurried over to them, and gave her parents both a huge hug.

'Hi, Mum! Hi, Dad!' Her parents beamed at her. Lily pulled away and saw Severus from the corner of her eyes.

'Bye, Sev!' she called to him. Snape looked round, saw Lily and flushed, waving at her. Petunia looked rather sour.

'Yeah, Snivelly, see you later! Personally, I think it'd be better if I don't!'

The grin that was once on Severus' face faltered. Lily turned round to find Potter and Black laughing at her friend, who was still flushing, though rather angrily now.

'And personally, Potter,' Lily retorted, 'I think it'd be better if you didn't come back at all!'

James looked dumbfounded for a second before his face broke into a large grin.

'Oh, come on, Evans, you know that's not true,' he said, bringing a hand up to his head and rumpling his hair as his father always did. 'If I didn't come next year, you'd miss me like mad.'

Lily flushed, going red. 'That's not true!' she exclaimed. 'I wish you'd never come back!' And she promptly turned round and walked away, with her parents close behind her. She could barely make out Black's loud bark-like laughing and Potter's over cheerful, just-to-make-her-angry, 'Have a good summer, then!' before she stormed away.

'So who was your little friend?' asked Mrs Evans as they walked to their car.

'Oh, Severus?' said Lily as her father took her luggage from her. 'He's from our neighbourhood, remember? You saw him that one time you came to pick us up from the park?'

'No, no, I meant the other one – the one you were having a spirited debate with.'

'Who, Potter?' Lily looked at her mother in apparent shock and disgust. 'He's not my friend, Mum!'

A small frown appeared on Mrs Evans' mouth. 'Really? Ah well, that's too bad. He seemed quite friendly.'

Lily raised her eyebrows incredulously at her, her jaw dropped. 'He is not,' she said, determinedly, shaking her head as though to reinforce her point. 'He's rude and a bully and he's definitely not my friend.'

'But he said, have a good summer,' said Mrs Evans, sounding confused.

Lily folded her arms. 'He's not my friend,' she insisted.

Mr Evans chuckled. 'Well then, I guess that settles that,' he said as he got into the car.

* * *

Summer seemed to pass by incredibly fast for Lily. She spent her mornings catching up on homework with Severus and afternoons with her family. Lily noticed that Petunia was rather grumpier than before. Her parents didn't seem to notice it, but Lily was sure there was a difference. Petunia still talked to her, but it was no longer with that friendly happiness they once shared.

Lily received regular letters from Kalah and Alice and was especially interested to hear about Alice's magical home life (considering her magical parentage). Kalah, it seemed, was visiting France for the summer break, so she often sent her letters with little souvenirs.

Lily was most worried about Severus during that summer. He was more depressed than usual and didn't smile anymore. He had come to the playground for a homework session one day and it was clearly evident that he was upset. Lily couldn't figure out what was wrong for a long time until Severus said two words.

'My parents.'

Lily sighed. Severus' parents were constantly fighting. She could hear them every time she passed by Spinner's End. She hugged Severus sympathetically.

Suddenly, he seemed a bit happier.

* * *

James untied three letters from Tawny's feet, and jumped onto his bed. Tawny hooted once and returned to her cage to finish eating her last dead mouse. James examined the letters. He had received one from each Sirius, Remus and Peter.

He unrolled Sirius' parchment first.

_--- James_

_Mum's driving me mad. Thinks it's my fault I'm in Gryffindor. She's hoping little Regulus would be less of a disappointment. He'll be coming to Hogwarts in our third year._

_We've got cousins coming over soon. Remember Narcissa from Slytherin? Fifth year? Going out with that git Malfoy? Her. And she's got a sister, Bellatrix. I can't stand the lot of them – they used to roll Reg and me in those dusty carpets we've got in our attic, just for fun when we were kids._

_They've got another sister, too – Andromeda – but she doesn't come to visit anymore. We're not supposed to talk about her, either. She married a Muggle-born a couple of months ago, you know. Pity, really. She was the only one I actually didn't mind. She used to give me extra custard at dinner whenever we went to visit their place._

_I can't wait to go back to Hogwarts, Oi, did you get your school letters, then? If so, owl me back – I'll see you in Diagon Alley._

_--- Sirius_

James grinned as he read the letter. Poor Sirius, stuck at home like that. James looked at the other two scrolls of parchment on his bed: each from Remus and Peter. He picked up one of the fireworks they had stolen from Filch and looked down at it intently. Perhaps Sirius needed a bit of moral support…

* * *

Lily stood in Diagon Alley with her parents and Petunia a month later. Term was to start at the first of September and Lily had gotten her booklist for the upcoming year.

'Alright, so where do we start?' Mrs Evans was asking her eagerly, looking around the cheerful town. Though it was their second time here, Diagon Alley, with its colourful, glittering window displays of spell books, potion ingredients and cauldrons was still remarkably enchanting.

'Books,' said Lily, glancing down at her list. As they headed up the road, Lily let her eyes wander to an Owlery in the distance. She had always wanted an owl…

* * *

James collapsed onto the seat in front of Sirius in the Hogwarts Express. Sirius grinned at him, pulling out the firecracker in his pocket. It was nearing eleven o'clock and they would soon be finally heading off for their second year at Hogwarts. Five minutes later, Remus entered the compartment in his usual shabby robes, followed by Peter, who collapsed on the seat across from Sirius. Momentarily, the train was beginning to move. Off to Hogwarts…

The classes that second year students were required to take were unchanged. Lily still took Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, Astronomy and History of Magic.

She started the morning with what she believed was a hearty breakfast. Then, she, Kalah and Alice made their way down to the Great Hall to pick up their new timetables, along with breakfast.

'France was really nice,' Kalah was saying as she picked up an orange. 'We went to the Eiffel Tower and everything. Mum reckons it's enchanted.'

'Really?' asked Lily curiously. 'How so?'

Kalah shrugged. 'She said something about its structure and proportions.'

'Some architectural buildings are magical,' said Alice, taking a bite out of a slice of buttered toast. 'Like the leaning tower of Pisa. Dad reckons that that entire area would have been totalled had a wizard not jumped in.'

Lily tilted her head to one side pensively, a slow grin appearing on her face. 'I hadn't thought of buildings being magical too…'

* * *

Now that he was a second-year student, James felt older and more important. He was no longer that scrawny little first year. Now, he was a scrawny little second year. Though it didn't look like much, it made enough of a difference to James to get to class responsibly. He pulled himself out of bed and got dressed. He was the only one inhabiting the dormitory at the time, apart from Sirius, who was still snoring away. James grinned and approached him, poking him hard on the head.

'ARGH – what?' Rubbing his eyes, Sirius sat up and yawned, stretching out his arms.

'You know we have class, right?' asked James with what he hoped was a stern expression.

'Yeah… so?'

'Er… how do I put this? It's eight thirty.'

Sirius fell out of his bed.

'What? Really?'

James nodded solemnly in response.

'Did you get your timetable?' asked Sirius, scratching his head idly. 'Oi, d'you reckon they'll give us detention on the first day back?'

James considered this. 'If we have McGonagall… then yes. I do.'

Sirius groaned and got up out of bed.

* * *

Lily had Potions first that morning, and it pleased her to discover that they still shared the class with the Slytherins. Lily and Severus took their usual seat together in the dungeons, and as the bell rang, the large, round-bellied Potions master entered.

'Ah… welcome back, second-years! Excellent, I see a lot of old faces.' His eyes twinkled kindly at the sight of Lily.

'Everyone have their books? Cauldrons? Excellent, let's begin.'

That day, the class made hiccoughing potions as a first year review. Lily hiccoughed all the way to her second class: Transfiguration.

Transfiguration was a class James and Sirius rather enjoyed. In fact, it was perhaps their most favourite subject, despite the strict Professor McGonagall. Professor McGonagall's classes were always hard work, but today's was especially difficult. Everything James had learnt last year seemed to have leaked out of his head during the summer. That class, he was told to turn a beetle into a button, and this task took much longer than it ought to.

Peter was having a much harder time with his beetle. It was quite obvious that Transfiguration wasn't his strong point, and from what James and Sirius had seen from him in first year, he wasn't very talented in any subject. Peter tried to transfigure his beetle and it engulfed him in thick grey smoke that smelled of rotten eggs. Unable to see what he was doing, he accidentally squashed his beetle with his elbow and had to ask for a new one. Professor McGonagall wasn't pleased.

When the lunch bell rang a half-hour later, Peter looked the most relieved in the class. It was an understatement to say that Professor McGonagall pushed Peter a little harder than she did others.

After lunch, Lily headed off to Charms. This was undoubtedly her favourite subject. The first lesson was fairly easy; they were only reviewing notes and charms from the year before.

An hour and a half later, Lily, Kalah and Alice left the castle together, crossed the vegetable patch and made for the greenhouses, where the magical plants were kept. As they neared the greenhouses, they saw the rest of the class standing outside, waiting for Professor Chubs. Lily scanned the crowd, and surely enough, Potter and Black were in her class… as always. Lily, Kalah and Alice had only just joined the students when Professor Chubs came striding into view across the lawn.

'Greenhouse three today, chaps!' said Professor Chubs. She took a large key from her belt and unlocked the door. Everyone entered it, slowly distributing themselves. Professor Chubs took her place behind a trestle bench in the center of the greenhouse. About twenty pairs of different-coloured ear muffs were lying on the bench.

'We'll be re-potting Mandrakes today. Now, who can tell me the properties of the Mandrake?'

Lily put her hand up nervously. All eyes were on her.

'Yes?' Professor Chubs prompted her.

'Er… Mandrake, or Mandragora, is a powerful restorative. It's used to return people who have been transfigured or cursed to their original state,' she said, turning red and looking at her feet. She had been studying over the summer.

'Excellent. Ten points to Gryffindor,' said Professor Chubs, beaming. 'The Mandrake forms an essential part of most antidotes. It's also dangerous. Who can tell me why?'

Alice put up her hand this time.

'The cry of the Mandrake is fatal to anyone who hears it,' she said promptly.

'Precisely. Take ten points,' said Professor Chubs. Lily beamed at her friend. 'Now,' continued Professor Chubs. 'The Mandrakes we have here are still very young.'

She pointed to a row of deep trays as she spoke, and everyone shuffled forward for a better look. A hundred or so tufty little plants, purplish green in colour, were growing there in rows. They looked quite remarkable to Lily, who had never seen one in person.

'Everyone, take a pair of earmuffs,' said Professor Chubs. There was a scramble as everyone tried to seize a pair. Lily looked affronted as she watched Potter push aside Amos Diggory in his attempt to get a pair that wasn't pink and fluffy.

'When I tell you to put them on, make sure your ears are completely covered,' said Professor Chubs. 'When it is safe to remove them, I will give you the thumbs-up. Right – earmuffs on.'

Lily snapped the earmuffs over her ears. Suddenly, she couldn't hear anything anymore. Professor Chubs put the pink, fluffy pair over her own ears, rolled up the sleeves of her robes, grasped one of the fluffy plants firmly and pulled hard.

Instead of roots, a small, muddy, and extremely ugly baby popped out of the earth. The leaves were growing right out of his head.

James gaped at it. The Mandrake had pale green, mottled skin, and was clearly bawling at the top of his lungs. He looked round idly. That's when he saw Peter at his left, still fumbling with his earmuffs. Peter's eyes went wide and he looked at the Mandrake, screamed himself (or so it seemed to a deaf James) and then collapsed to the ground.

James didn't know what to do. Everyone was wearing earmuffs so they clearly couldn't hear him. He quickly made his way to the front of the group, waving his arms and indicating to Peter. Professor Chubs gave him an odd look, followed his gesture to Peter lying motionless on the ground and quickly took a large pot from under the table. She plunged the Mandrake into it, burying him in dark, damp compost until only the tufted leaves were visible. Professor Chubs then dusted off her hands, gave them all the thumbs-up and removed her own earmuffs.

The rest of the class seemed rather confused. James had rushed back to Peter and was crouching next to him.

'Pete? Oi, Peter!'

Professor Chubs hurried from behind the desk and made her way to Peter, where other students were looking curiously. She crouched down beside the unconscious boy, checked his pulse and sighed.

'Didn't put his earmuffs on properly, the idiot,' she said gruffly. She looked around at the other students, who were seemingly fearful. 'As our Mandrakes are only seedlings, their cries won't kill yet,' she said calmly. 'However, they will knock you out for several hours.' She gestured helplessly toward Peter.

Peter's knock-out was perhaps the most interesting event that entire day. An unsuspecting James was also given congratulations for saving yet another life. After the incident, Peter was much more inclined to admire James, which Lily found was quite repulsive.

* * *

The first few weeks of school flew by fast for Lily. With all the homework she was getting, she hardly had time to do anything else. Potter was his usual annoying self, always bothering Severus.

However, Lily was happy and proud to see that Severus was no longer allowing himself to be bullied so easily. The summer break and perhaps the ordeal with his parents, had given him a new confidence and so he no longer let James and Sirius make fun of him. Of course, his retorts were still nothing close to genius, but the fact that he was making somewhat of an effort made Lily happy.

But it was after a certain point that she started to wish her best friend weren't so resilient.

It happened around mid-October. Lily and Severus had been in their Potions class, which they incidentally shared with Potter, Black, Lupin and Pettigrew. That day, the class set out to make Laughing potions. Slughorn was to award fifty points for the house(s) of the group that made the best sample.

'Alright,' said Professor Slughorn. 'Everyone knows what to do? Right then, off you go!'

Lily set off for the material cupboard and she and Severus began to work on their potion. Lily read instructions and added ingredients, while Severus stirred the potion and checked its progress. By the end of the class, theirs was the only potion that was simmering gently, with yellowish vapours evaporating into the air.

Professor Slughorn moved slowly among the tables, peering into cauldrons. He made no comment, but occasionally gave the potions a stir or a sniff. At last he reached the table where Severus and Lily were sitting. He saw their potion and a look of incredulous delight spread over his face.

'The clear winners!' he cried to the dungeon. 'Excellent, excellent, Lily and Severus! Good lord, I've never seen it done so well the first time! Very well, fifty points to Gryffindor and Slytherin, as promised!'

For some reason, the class was somewhat disappointed. Perhaps it was the fact that both houses won that was rather annoying. Most of the students seemed put out that the other House had gained, rather than being pleased with their own gain.

When the bell rang, the Potions class filed out, Lily and Snape talking excitedly.

'Oi, Snivellus!'

Lily and Severus both whirled around. Potter and Black were smirking at him.

'What do you want, Potter?' snapped Lily, coldly. James disregarded her.

'You know, Snivelly, I reckon you need a Laughing potion yourself. Being grim all the time and all. Don't you think, Sirius?'

Sirius surveyed Snape. 'Nah… if he's this ugly when he's scowling, imagine how ugly he'd be if he were laughing. A beauty potion, more like. Though I doubt it'd work…'

James laughed. Lily opened her mouth to retort, but Severus started talking.

'Shouldn't you be off somewhere getting detention? Or losing more points for Gryffindor? Honestly Potter, if you and Black weren't here, maybe Gryffindor would actually stand a chance at winning the House Cup.'

James flushed. It was true. James and Sirius (and occasionally Remus and Peter) had gotten into so much trouble that they lost at least ten points from Gryffindor each week. Slytherin had won last year, and from the way things were going, they might win this year as well. But even so, James thought, as he whipped out his wand and pointed it threateningly at Snape, he wasn't going to let that greasy-haired weasel tell him that.

Severus whipped out his wand at the same time. For a split second, they looked into each other's eyes, then, at exactly the same time, both shouted a different spell.

Jets of light shot from both wands, hit each other in midair, and ricocheted off at angles – Severus' hit the wall next to James – and then, Lily, whimpering in panic, was clutching her head. She was crying. Her knees had buckled and she was sitting on the ground. Her hair was changing colours rapidly, growing and shrinking all at once.

James looked horrified, realising suddenly what he had done. Had he used a Colour-Change and Hair-thickening Charm? Snape glanced from Lily, in shock, to James, in anger. Sirius' eyes were round – they were going to get into a hell of a lot of trouble for this.

'Come on,' he told James urgently. 'Let's go before someone catches us.'

But James was frozen, a horror-struck gaze fixed upon Lily. He wanted to say something, but found his mouth dry.

Severus was crouched down beside Lily, attempting to figure out a counter-curse.

'What happ – Lily!' Kalah and Alice had come rushing now, apparently having searched for Lily for their next Charms class. Kalah crouched down beside Lily on the other side, a confused look on her face as she saw Lily crying.

'What… happened?' She seemed at a loss for words.

'Potter,' supplied Snape.

Kalah shot an angry glare at James. 'What's wrong with you, you prat!? Look at the state of her!'

James opened his mouth as though he was about to say something, but Kalah cut him off.

'What did she do to you, anyway? Just leave her alone!'

'What's going on here!?'

Professor McGonagall appeared. 'Miss Ramnath, how dare you made such a racket in the corridors! Five points from Gryffindor!'

'But professor, look at what Potter did to Lily!' protested Kalah.

'What he did to –?'

Professor McGonagall approached Lily, who had stopped crying and was hastily trying to wipe the tears from her eyes.

'Now, now, dear. Don't you worry.' She shot James a look of deep disapproval, and then muttered a spell under her breath, her wand pointing at Lily's head. Her hair immediately stopped changing colours and settled at her shoulders, its original length returned.

'Alright, there you go. All fixed. Don't worry now. Off to your next class, alright?'

Kalah and Alice helped Lily up and they trudged off. Severus, looking rather awkward and sour, picked up his backpack and stalked off to his next class as well. James and Sirius turned round and attempted to escape as well.

'Detention, Potter and Black.'

James and Sirius groaned, and Professor McGonagall continued.

'How dare you attack that poor girl. I'm very disappointed. I expected better from even you.'

Sirius opened his mouth to protest that. He wanted to tell McGonagall that James was actually trying to attack Snape, but then realised that this piece of information wouldn't really help his situation all that much, so he shut it quickly.

'Saturday morning. You'll be in separate detentions. Putting you two together doesn't seem to be getting us anywhere. Potter, you're to do your detention with Professor Slughorn in the dungeons. Black, Mr Filch will be waiting for you at the Trophy room.'

Sirius groaned and Professor McGonagall turned and walked away promptly.

Sirius cast James an annoyed look. 'I told you we should've run,' he muttered as they both walked to next period Charms. They were already late as it was. 'I didn't even do anything and I get stuck with Filch.'

To this, James couldn't help but laugh.

* * *

There was no doubt that Lily was angry with James. She ignored him all through Charms class (though this wasn't new) and she didn't laugh at any of his jokes and pranks (this also wasn't new) but she didn't even bother to shoot him annoyed looks (and James was sure that this was her favourite past-time). What was puzzling was the fact that James had no idea why Lily hating him was bothering him so much…

That Saturday morning and James and Sirius were both in their dormitories, ready to depart for their detentions. Momentarily, Sirius was rummaging through his trunk.

'Hey, wait, I've got an idea,' said Sirius, straightening up. 'Here.' And he thrust a small mirror into James' hands. James held it up.

'Er… thanks, but why would I need a mirror?'

Sirius grinned, holding his mirror up to his face. 'Say my name into it.'

James looked confused for a moment, held up the mirror and said, 'Sirius Black.'

He gasped. Sirius' face was looking back at him, though through the mirror.

'Brilliant, isn't it?' the mirror Sirius asked. 'It's a two-sided mirror. Really handy in detention, I reckon.'

James grinned and pocketed it. 'Thanks, mate.' He checked his watch. 'Right, we should go now. McGonagall's going to go crazy if she finds out we were late for our detentions.'


	4. Remus' Secret

_**Disclaimer**: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. In order to make my story seem more authentic, I have literally cut and pasted direct scenes from Rowling's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. These scenes are clearly italicized, and are properly referenced that the end of the chapter.

* * *

_

_**"Every wish is like a prayer to God."**_

_**--- Elizabeth Barrett Browning

* * *

**_

What with homework, projects, occasionally visiting Hagrid, and as far as James and Sirius were concerned, attending various detentions, a month passed by rather quickly. However, it was because of the large work load that James and Sirius began to notice something rather interesting.

It was the week of Halloween and James, Sirius and Peter were all stuck indoors, attempting to finish off an essay for Slughorn. Professor Slughorn, it seemed was rather fond of essays, as he took to assigning them one every other week. James was beginning to wonder whether this was just a clever ruse to avoid teaching the class. It was during one of their painful essay-writing sessions that the presence of one Mr Lupin was greatly missed.

'Hey, where _is_ Remus, anyway?' asked James, throwing down his quill in frustration and gazing down at his pitifully empty parchment.

'His – mum's – sick,' muttered Sirius, writing down words and crossing them out one at a time.

'Yeah? That's odd…'

'Not really,' said Peter, shrugging. His parchment was three feet away from him, hopelessly crumpled and sadly empty. 'His mum's always sick.'

Sirius looked up at James. 'How's it odd?'

'Well,' said James, pushing his parchment away in a notion of giving up, 'his mum gets sick once a month.'

Sirius' face wore a puzzled expression. 'Or, well, _he_ gets sick. Remember that time he went to the hospital wing?'

'That time he _said_ he went to the hospital wing,' corrected James.

Sirius examined James, giving him a confused face in prompt to continue with the theory he seemed to have acquired.

'You know what I've noticed?' continued James. 'He goes missing once a month and it's always at night.'

'And he's only gone for one night,' said Peter, looking deep in thought.

'Yeah…' said Sirius slowly. 'What, does his mum get well overnight?'

* * *

'Oi, Remus!'

Remus entered the Entrance Hall accompanied by Professor McGonagall the next morning. He was looking so tired that James wondered whether he'd caught his mother's illness.

Remus caught sight of James, Sirius and Peter and for a fraction of a second, looked somewhat paler, if that was possible in his current state. Then he fixed his expression into a small smile.

'Hi, James, Sirius, Peter…' he said.

'Right,' said Professor McGonagall, putting a hand on Remus' shoulder. 'Mr Lupin, go up to your dormitory and get a couple hours' sleep. You're excused from my class and I'll inform Professor Flitwick that you won't be able to make it to Charms either. You three,' she added, indicating toward James, Sirius and Peter, 'come along now. I believe you have Transfiguration with me?'

'Yes, Professor McGonagall,' they all chorused.

'Very well, then.' And she hurried off.

There was a moment's silence, and then James and Sirius turned to Remus.

'So, where've you been?' asked Sirius in a slightly sharp voice.

'My mum… she's ill,' said Remus quietly, not making eye contact with any of them.

'Yeah?' asked James, scratching the back of his head. 'Did she get better overnight?'

Remus blanched. 'Er… well, sort of. She's at a stable state now, and she reckons I shouldn't miss too much school.'

'Oh, I see." Sirius commenced nodding his head understandingly. 'Stable state… That's good… But don't you find that it's odd that she gets really sick _every _month?'

Panic flashed momentarily through Remus' eyes. 'R-Really? I – er – didn't really notice…'

'Oh, come off it, Remus,' said Sirius. 'Sure you've noticed. We've _all_ noticed. Even Peasegood has noticed.'

'Pease-who?' asked Peter, the corners of his mouth twitching.

Sirius waved a hand airily. 'That bloke in Ravenclaw.'

'Yes, well,' said Remus, sounding rather annoyed as he attempted to leave. 'I've got to get to class.'

'Didn't McGonagall say to go to sleep?' demanded Sirius.

'Well, I'm not tired.'

James raised an eyebrow. 'Remus, you look like a ghost.'

'I don't look like a ghost,' said Remus tiredly.

'Shall I call Nick over and compare the both of you?' asked James.

Remus sighed. 'Look, you lot, I've really got to go…'

'Why _are_ you so tired anyway?' persisted Sirius.

'I was up all night with my mum, alright?'

A loud bell sounded.

'Oh no, I'm late for Transfiguration!' said Remus suddenly, turning to walk away. James sighed. There was no questioning him now.

'No – wait, Remus,' said James, shaking his head. 'Just go back to the dormitory. McGonagall said, remember? Honestly, you look like you're about to collapse.'

Remus paused for a minute, eyeing the three of them and then nodded stiffly.

James sighed as Remus walked away. Now they had to find out the hard way...

* * *

'Ah, Miss Evans, there you are!'

Lily turned round to find Professor Slughorn making his way toward Kalah, Alice and herself.

'Hi, Professor Slughorn!'

Slughorn beamed at her. 'Hello, my dear! Now, Miss Evans, I'm sure you are aware of the little get-together I'm hosting this Christmas?'

'Oh… yes, sir…'

'I look forward to seeing you there. And Miss Prewett too, of course!'

'Yes, sir,' said Alice, with a smile. Lily shifted uncomfortably.

'Glad to hear it,' said Slughorn beaming down at the two of them. 'Good afternoon, Miss Evans, Miss Prewett, Miss - er -'

He glanced awkwardly toward Kalah.

'Ramnath,' said Kalah, with what looked like a fake smile plastered onto her face. 'Kalah Ramnath.'

'Right, of course. Slipped my mind, that's all.'

'Right-e-o, Professor, right-e-o.'

The moment Slughorn waddled off, Kalah's face slipped into a scowl. 'Slipped his mind, did it?' she said wryly, as she glanced back viciously at Slughorn's figure. 'Why, I ought to –'

'And why is the lovely Miss Ramnath raising her voice again?'

Lily glanced back to see Frank approach him, with his bag slung over one shoulder in his signature fashion. 'She's threatening Professor Slughorn again, Frank,' she supplied.

Frank laughed. 'Let me guess – he didn't invite you to his Christmas party?'

Kalah paused. 'No… But that's not why –'

'Oh, wait – he pretended you weren't there!'

'Er… yeah, that too, but –'

'He forgot your name again!'

Kalah narrowed her eyes. 'You prat, you're doing that on purpose!'

Frank grinned. 'But I'm right, aren't I?'

Kalah rolled her eyes and refrained from answering.

'Don't worry,' said Frank, with a grin. 'I didn't get invited, either.'

'Where have you been all morning?' asked Alice, glancing at the delicate chain-like watch around her wrist. 'Jenkins was wondering why you didn't come to Defence Against the Dark Arts.'

Frank's eyes went round. 'He _noticed_? Ah, bugger, I thought he didn't even know my name!'

'He doesn't,' assured Lily, with a grin, earning a glare from Frank. 'He refers to you as _Pants_.'

Frank groaned. 'One mispronunciation of the last name and you're nicknamed for life.'

Alice cupped her hands round her mouth as though to project her voice. '_Pants_!'

Frank whipped round frantically, checking to see whether the corridor was empty.

'_Alice_! Shh! Before people find out about –'

'About _Pants_?' asked Kalah, looking clearly amused. 'Well, I suppose that's what you get for trying to act all chivalrous around us when we're in class.'

She deepened her voice in an imitation that was supposed to resemble Frank, taking a bow. 'Hello, ladies. Fancy seeing you in Charms today.'

Alice sunk into a curtsy. 'Why yes it is, Mr Frankfurter. Very fanciable indeed.' she said. She glanced at Frank. 'That's your long name, right? Frankfurter?' Frank looked scandalised.

Kalah paused. 'Is fanciable even a word?'

Alice shrugged, straightening up again. 'I thought I heard someone say it this morning.'

'That was me,' said Lily brightly, raising her hand. 'We were talking about Mary's new cat.'

'Right, right…' said Kalah, nodding her head in recognition.

'Oi, you lot, I act nothing like that.' said Frank.

'Sure you do,' said Lily, turning her attention back to Frank with twinkling eyes. 'You know, Frank, it's alright to talk to us. Even if we're around other people. You don't have to make it look like you're doing us a favour –'

Frank flushed. 'I don't –'

'Oh, yes you do,' insisted Alice, with a grin. 'What are you, embarrassed of us or something? Don't want Potter and his friends to know you talk to _girls_?'

Frank seemed to be turning pinker by the second. Lily was almost sure he was going to explode.

'I don't care what James and his friends think,' he muttered.

'Really?' asked Lily, bouncing on the balls of her feet childishly. 'Because it seems like all that people care about _is_ what James Potter and his friends think.'

'Well, everyone seems to think he's a hero,' said Alice.

'They say he saved Davey Gudgeon,' added Kalah.

'At the Whomping Willow,' finished Lily. 'Who knows, maybe it's just a rumour.'

'It's true!' insisted Frank. 'I was there.'

'Were you, now?' asked Alice, a grin widening on her face. 'Fancied a go at the Whomping Willow, did you?'

Frank reddened, but a reluctant half-smile made its way onto his face. 'Yeah, yeah, that's right. Make fun of the chivalrous gentleman, why don't you?'

They all burst into laughter.

* * *

'He's lying,' said Sirius bluntly.

James, Sirius and Peter were all lounging on sofas in the common room on a snowy day.

'Well, _obviously_,' said James, rolling his eyes, 'but we can't _make_ him tell us the truth.'

'_Can__'__t_ we?' asked Sirius suggestively.

'We're not making him drink Veritaserum, Sirius.' Sirius' face fell.

'Is there even any in the castle?' asked Peter.

Sirius nodded immediately at that. 'Oh, yes,' he said with a wicked grin. 'There's definitely Veritaserum in the castle.'

'Right,' said James, suddenly business-like. 'Now, how're we going to pull this off? I reckon we should -' He cut off quickly at Remus' presence.

'Oi, you lot,' said Remus, approaching them. He had a book in his hands and his eyes were skimming over the words written upon it as he spoke. 'You were saying you need help with that Potions essay, yeah? Er – what's going on?'

James, Sirius and Peter quickly rearranged their faces to resemble someone less suspicious or guilty looking.

'Nothing!' said James. 'Nothing at all. Oh, and don't worry about that Potions essay, we've got it under control.'

'We do?' asked Sirius incredulously; he shut his mouth at the pointed look James was giving him.

'Of course we do,' encouraged James. 'Right, Peter?'

Peter nodded immediately. 'Absolutely.'

'Oh,' said Remus, looking from James to Sirius to Peter, with a slightly confused expression on his face. 'Alright, then. I guess I'll go up to the dormitory and read.'

'You do that, mate,' said James, shooting him a huge grin.

When Remus was well out of hearing range, Sirius shot James an annoyed face.

'We've got it all covered!' he said in a mocking voice. 'Excellent, now we're going to fail Potions!'

James waved his hand airily, dismissing what seemed like a small problem at the time. 'Now, what are we going to do?'

Sirius leaned in, forgetting entirely about his Potions dilemma. 'I reckon we follow him.'

* * *

It was the last day before the Christmas break and the day of Slughorn's Christmas party.

'Kalah, are you _sure_ you don't want to come?' asked Lily desperately.

Kalah grinned from one of the sofas in the common room. She, Mary, Marlene and Frank were in the midst of playing a game of Exploding Snap.

'No, thank you,' said Kalah, munching on a fruit bar. 'Bring me back something good?'

'You mean to eat,' clarified Alice, with a cocked eyebrow.

Kalah grinned cheekily. 'Exactly.'

Lily and Alice made their way to Professor Slughorn's office. Slughorn's office was much larger than the usual teacher's study, and Lily figured it was enchanted to be so. The ceiling and walls had been covered with emerald and silver hangings; Lily thought this was rather biased. After all, she didn't see any Gryffindor, Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff colours in the room.

It seemed as though they were all inside a large tent. The room was crowded and humid, and there were several glowing, green orbs floating around, providing light to the space. Loud singing accompanied by harps and violins came from the center of the room, though Lily didn't see any possible cause for the sound. Many house-elves were slipping through the crowd of people, carrying heavy silver platters of food.

'Ah, Miss Evans, Miss Prewett!' boomed Slughorn, almost as soon as Lily and Alice had squeezed in through the door. 'Come in, come in! How are you young ladies today?'

'Fine, Professor,' they chorused.

Slughorn's back bent forward a little into what was an attempt at a bow and Alice almost choked on her pineapple juice at the hilarious sight.

* * *

Remus, who was also invited to Slughorn's Christmas party, was unable to attend. He had told Slughorn that he had to visit his father in Bulgaria that night. Professor McGonagall appeared in the common room to escort him out of Hogwarts.

James, Sirius and Peter feigned innocence as they waved at him; Remus left the common room anxiously. As soon as the Fat Lady's portrait shut, James jumped to his feet. He swept the room with his eyes, confirming its emptiness apart from James, Sirius and Peter.

'Right, let's go.'

Sirius and Peter jumped to their feet, wearing the expressions of soldiers preparing for war.

'What was it that you said would make following Remus easier?'

James grinned mischievously and pulled out his Invisibility Cloak, introducing the rare item to his friends.

Peter's jaw dropped. 'An _Invisibility Cloak_?' he asked in awe. 'My mum's been looking everywhere for one of those!' Peter's mother was a collector of rare items.

James grinned proudly. 'My dad gave it to me for Christmas last year.'

'And you've hid it for all this time?' asked Sirius incredulously.

James chuckled. 'Right - let's go. This thing's big enough to hold all of us. Remus too, I'll bet.'

Once the three of them were well-hidden under the cloak, they stumbled out of the common room.

'Hurry,' hissed James. 'I don't see them…'

'Oi – there!' exclaimed Sirius. 'Oh no, it's just Filch…'

'Shhh!' said James. They all paused as Filch passed by.

'Ow! Peter, that was my _toe_!' exclaimed Sirius, as soon as Filch had disappeared from view.

'Oh, sorry, Sirius…'

'Shut up, you two. Look, there they are!' whispered James.

In the distance, they saw Professor McGonagall walking swiftly, one of her hands placed on Remus' shoulder firmly. Remus was looking paler than ever, and was looking from left to right in a sort of jumpy paranoia.

Momentarily, they were in the Entrance Hall. James, Sirius and Peter watched as McGonagall pushed open the castle doors and walked out to the grounds. Once they were a safe distance away, James and his friends followed.

'Where're they going?' whispered Sirius. 'I mean, if Remus' going home, shouldn't they be heading toward the front gates to wait for the Knight Bus?'

James made a strangled noise. 'Look!'

Professor McGonagall and Remus had approached the Whomping Willow now. She glanced in both directions and then picked up a twig from the ground. She began talking again. James, Sirius and Peter edged forward to hear what she was saying.

'… So you know what to do, Mr Lupin. The moon should be out in about fifteen minutes, so you have some time… to prepare yourself.'

Remus nodded shakily.

'And _do_ try to refrain from attacking yourself,' added Professor McGonagall, raising her eyebrows and peering at him knowingly.

'You know I can't, Professor. 'It's in the nature of a wolf to -'

'Very well,' said McGonagall, sounding exasperated. 'Off you go, then.' She handed him the twig.

James watched as Remus crawled between the wild branches and prodded a knot on the trunk with his twig. Abruptly, as though the tree had been turned to stone, it stopped moving. Not a leaf twitched or shook.

James heard Sirius groan beside him and he understood why. Last year, they had all tried to touch the branch of the Whomping Willow without getting attacked. Davey Gudgeon had almost lost an eye. If they had known that all they had to do was prod a knot…

But Remus _had_ known. Was this why he refused to take part in the game?

Professor McGonagall watched as Remus entered, and then turned on her heel and walked away toward the castle. James pulled the Invisibility Cloak off Sirius, Peter, and himself, and turned to see the look on his friends' faces.

Sirius' face was blanched with shock and Peter was pale with fright. There was a moment's silence where neither of them could speak. Then James opened his mouth.

'Mates?'

It was starting to get dark now.

'Right,' said Sirius nodding. 'So now we know what the Whomping Willow's for…'

'Yeah,' said James, eyeing the tree and the knot that freezes it. It had regained its ability to move now and was swaying gently in the wind. 'And we know that Remus comes here every month…'

'For only one night,' added Peter, his voice oddly high-pitched.

James nodded. 'Only one night. And…' James looked up at the sky and his eyes widened. The clouds in the sky were starting to part. 'McGonagall said something about the moon…'

'Remus attacks himself...' said Sirius, his voice so low they could barely hear it.

The clouds in the sky were almost fully parted to reveal a bright, glowing orb.

'But he can't stop,' reminded Peter, his eyes darting nervously from the full moon to the entrance to the Whomping Willow. There was a low growling sound.

'Because it's the nature of a wolf…' James' voice trailed off.

There was a moment's silence. Then, a loud, piercing howl filled the night.

James, Sirius and Peter were huddled together as they listened to the loud howl and all realisations came crashing down upon them. James' voice was barely a whisper when he finally spoke.

'Remus… is a _werewolf_.'

* * *

Neither of them slept much that night. James recalled slipping into bed the moment they snuck back into the dormitory, not wanting to speak. Frank was fast asleep and his curtains were closed. James tossed and turned, replaying past instances in his head. When Remus left every month, claiming that his mother was ill, he was still very close to Hogwarts. And he was a werewolf. James kept saying the words in his head and he still was unable to link the words, 'Remus' and 'werewolf' together.

'Sirius?' called James tentatively.

'Yeah.'

James sighed. 'Can't sleep either?'

'Nope.'

'Peter?'

'Oi.'

James sighed again and sat up. Sirius and Peter followed.

'What... so what do we do?' asked James into the darkness.

There was a pause, where no one said anything. James heard a shuffling coming from his right – Sirius was checking whether Frank was still asleep. Then he sat down at the edge of his bed, leaning forward towards James.

'He's a _werewolf_, James,' he said, and James could sense the anxiety in his voice.

'I know,' replied James, unsure of what else to say.

Peter shuffled over to them, dark rings already appearing underneath his eyes after missing only several hours of sleep.

'Do you reckon he's dangerous?' he asked.

'Not when he's human,' said James, matter-of-factly. 'You lot know that – he hasn't hurt anyone.'

'And I doubt Dumbledore would let him hurt anyone even when he's a werewolf,' insisted Peter.

'So -' Sirius made a sort of strangled noise. 'So what do we do?'

James regarded him with a slightly shocked expression on his face. 'What do you mean?'

'He's a _werewolf_, you lot!' hissed Sirius.

'So what?' asked James blankly. He had never seen Sirius lose his composition before.

Sirius sighed tiredly, running a hand through his hair before he spoke. 'Werewolf's are - well, they're Dark creatures.'

Peter's eyes went wide. 'But Remus isn't - he's never used Dark magic or anything.'

'I _know_ that,' insisted Sirius exasperatedly. 'But - but you don't know what my mum and dad say about werewolves. Especially this one werewolf that's running round. His name's Fenrir Greayback, and even my mum's scared of him. He attacks _kids_, you lot. And - and they kill, and they've got no control over themselves and -'

'Remus has never hurt anyone, Sirius,' said James quietly.

Sirius sunk his head into his hands. 'I know,' he breathed.

'And with him being taken out of the school every month, I doubt he will, so long as he's attending Hogwarts.'

Sirius thought about that. 'You're right,' he said, after awhile.

'So -' Peter scratched the back of his head awkwardly. 'Do we - tell him?'

The three of them exchanged glances.

'I don't think that's such a great idea,' said James.

'But what if we're wrong about his being a werewolf?' asked Sirius.

James shook his head. 'I doubt it.'

'Well, then we should let him know. At least… er… _gently_'

Peter scoffed at that. 'Oh yeah, that should be a nice conversation. 'Merry Christmas, Remus. Oh, and by the way, we know you're a werewolf."

James sighed. 'Well, then… How about we wait until after the Christmas break?' he suggested.

It was almost eleven o'clock and the train was about to leave. James, Sirius and Peter had caught sight of Remus in the crowd and before James could stop him, Sirius approached him.

'Oi, Remus,' said Sirius cheerfully. Behind him, James slapped his forehead with his right hand in defeat.

'Oh, hello Sirius.' Remus looked up from his book and smiled weakly.

'We know.'

Remus' smile faltered. 'Kn – know what?'

Sirius took a deep breath and looked at Remus with what could have been mistaken for a grave expression. He ignored the constant kicks he was receiving from James.

'We know what you are.'

Shock flashed across Remus' eyes for a split second before he recomposed his face into an amused expression.

'You… know?' he asked, with a raised eyebrow. 'Know what? What I got on my Potions essay? I told you lot, I didn't get an O -'

'We know you're a werewolf, Remus,' said Sirius abruptly, interrupting him.

The effect was immediate. Remus blanched. 'You -' he spluttered, taking in the grim look on Sirius' face. And then, as fast as his expression had become shocked, his face shut down with defeat and he turned around.

'My… parents are here. I've got to go,' he said in a rush, before hurrying off.

'OW! Oi, what was that for, James!?' Sirius nursed his hurt arm.

'I _told_ you not to tell him we know, you prat,' replied James, sounding annoyed. 'Now he thinks we hate him or something.'

'But we don't,' said Sirius, evidently confused.

James groaned. 'He'll be trying to convince his parents to switch schools all through Christmas break. I know it.'

* * *

_--- Sirius and Peter,_

_Hey, I__'__ve got an idea. About Remus__'…__'__furry little problem', if you catch my drift. I've been doing some research on werewolves (yeah, seriously… I have) and I read that werewolves have natural instincts to attack humans. They try to bite and scratch as many as possible each time they transform. But if there are none, it's natural for them to attack themselves. That's why Remus has so many scratches. He can't control himself. He goes to that place behind the Whomping Willow so that he can't attack anyone and since the whole school's scared pissed of it, no one's willing to get near it. And there's more. Werewolves are only a danger to humans. They don't attack animals. So if Remus were to hang around animals when he transforms, he could be more like himself, and less wolfish. Interesting, huh?_

_--- James

* * *

_

_--- James_

_Where are you going with this, James? You know, maybe it wasn__'__t so brilliant that I told Remus that we knew. D'you want me to owl him? Explain or something?_

_--- Sirius

* * *

_

_--- James_

_Furry little problem? Brilliant name, James! Er - yeah, the bit about the animals was interesting. But I don't quite follow..._

_--- Peter

* * *

_

_--- S_

_NO!__ Don__'__t owl him! Honestly, Sirius, you're going to have him drop out! We'll explain when we get back, alright?_

_In the meantime… remember in Transfiguration when McGonagall was talking about Animagi? See where I'm going with this?_

_--- J

* * *

_

_--- P_

_Ah, my poor, naïve friend. Does the word Animagi mean anything to you? Hm?_

_--- J

* * *

_

_--- J_

_ANIMAGI! Why didn__'__t I think of that? Right. It__'__s a good idea, but it's bloody hard. I doubt we'd be able to get any books out on it. Must be in the Restricted section._

_--- S

* * *

_

_--- J_

_Are you serious!? That's right tricky stuff, James! And, well… I'm not exactly the cleverest in the year, you know. I suppose you expect this is something you and Sirius could do..._

_--- P

* * *

_

_--- S_

_Don__'__t worry about the books. Remember my Invisibility Cloak? Piece o' treacle tart, I tell you._

_--- J

* * *

_

_--- P_

_Don't be ridiculous, Pete. You're as brilliant as the rest of us. Besides, if we all do this together, we can help each other out. We'll talk about it more at school._

_--- J

* * *

_

Remus had not switched schools. James was determined and ready to speak to him on that first day of the new term. He, Sirius and Peter cornered him in their dormitory that morning as soon as Frank left for breakfast; Remus was unpacking his things.

'Remus,' called Sirius.

Remus turned round to face him with a grim expression on his face. It seemed as though he had been expecting this - as though he had been preparing for this very moment throughout the entire Christmas break.

'Look,' he began determinedly, 'I'm sorry I didn't tell you lot about my being a werewolf, alright? I was afraid you lot wouldn't like me anymore. Which, I suppose, you probably don't anymore. And you probably want to stay away from me now; I suppose that's alright, I'm used to it anyway. But,' Remus spoke with a different, fiercer voice, 'I'd really appreciate it if you three didn't tell anyone. I really like Hogwarts and I really don't want to switch schools just because -'

'Is that a threat?' asked James loftily.

Remus looked up so fast he cricked his neck. Holding a hand up to it, he asked weakly, 'What?'

James grinned. 'Is that a threat?'

Remus blinked, and then his expression became a quick scowl. 'Yeah, it is! I haven't hurt anyone alright? And I don't plan on it! So I don't think there's a reason for me to have to move!'

Now Sirius and Peter were grinning as well. Remus looked between the three of them. 'What?' he asked defensively.

James chuckled. 'Well, we've decided we don't care you're a werewolf,' he said.

Remus' jaw dropped. 'What!?' he spluttered. 'What do you mean you don't care? Don't you realize how dangerous I am?'

Sirius shrugged. 'You said so yourself, you haven't hurt anyone.'

'Except yourself,' reminded Peter.

'That's right,' said James. 'I read about werewolves over the break.'

'And then James had a brilliant idea!' said Peter excitedly. James flushed and ran a hand through his hair. 'Remember when Professor McGonagall was talking about Animagi?'

Remus's eyebrows furrowed. 'Animagi? What are you… No way!'

Sirius grinned wickedly. 'We're going to become Animagi.'

* * *

After classes that day, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter gathered together in the common room. Remus was in a visibly good mood.

'It's really difficult magic, you lot,' he said as he peered at them over the top of his book.

'Yeah, yeah,' said Sirius, lazily waving the matter aside. 'You've said that about ten times already.'

'And we told you we don't care,' added James. 'Besides, I'm always up for a good challenge.

'But how're you going to learn? What resources? Books like that are probably in the Restricted Section! Which teacher will let us take out a book like that!?'

'Ah!' said James dramatically. 'I was hoping you'd ask!' He glanced quickly around him to check whether anyone was looking – no one seemed to be – and pulled out his Invisibility Cloak with a flourish, holding it up for his friend. Remus' jaw fell.

'T – That's an Invisibility Cloak! Where'd you -?'

'My dad. First year Christmas present,' said James, pride thundering in his voice. 'It's what we used when we found out about your… er…' he glanced around. People were still in the common room. '… furry little problem,' he finished slowly.

Peter choked with laughter.

'Brilliant!'

* * *

'Alright, coast's clear!'

'Shh, come on, hurry!'

'Ow, Peter, that's the second time you stepped on my toe!'

'Er – sorry Sirius!'

'Shut up, it's Filch!'

'You _do_ realize how loud you are, right?'

James wondered whether he should have gone searching for the book about Animagi on his own. It was midnight, and the four of them were headed to the library.

'OK, he's gone, let's go!'

And they set off, drawing the Invisibility Cloak tight around them as they walked. The library was pitch-black and rather eerie. Remus lit a lamp to see his way along the rows of books. The Restricted Section was right at the back of the library.

'Alright, Remus, we're here. Go find it,' whispered James.

Remus crept out from under the cloak and made his way to one of the shelves. He held up his lamp and looked along the bottom shelf.

And then they heard it – a sudden shuffling coming from a few aisles back.

'Fantastic,' whispered Sirius. 'Just our luck.'

'Remus?' hissed Peter urgently.

For a while, Remus' face was pensive, and then a moment later, it brightened, as he found what he was looking for.

'Right here! Got it!'

'Brilliant,' said Sirius hoarsely. 'Get it and let's go!'

James and Sirius were rather quite eager to begin their Animagi training. In fact, they spent more time studying the theory than they did finishing their actual homework. It had gotten to the point where they were receiving detentions for their incomplete homework.

* * *

Soon, the winter snow had all melted and many students found themselves outside more often than they were inside. Lily was no exception. As soon as the flower buds began to appear, Lily and Severus began their usual habit of studying outside near the lake. Easter was approaching and it seemed as though everyone was looking forward to the upcoming Easter egg-hunt.

'Did you know about the egg-hunt, Sev?' asked Lily, as she closed her Transfiguration book and stowed it into her bag.

'Yeah,' replied Severus, taking his eyes off his parchment and glanced at Lily. 'I don't know much about it, though.'

'No? Well, the Head Boy and Girl of the year planned it. I hear it's only for first and second years. They put all the students into groups of five. Then, they hide Easter eggs all over the castle and grounds. I think each egg has a certain amount of points. The team with the most points wins and the House they belong to wins one hundred points.'

Severus' face fell. 'Wait… Houses compete _against_ each other?'

'Yeah.'

'I suppose that we won't be on the same team, then.'

Lily thought about this. 'Oh… I guess not…'

Severus' face scrunched up in dislike. 'I don't really want to play.'

Lily laughed. 'Sure, you do. You'll have fun! Or are you afraid of losing to a Gryffindor?'

Severus grinned. 'No chance. Besides, I wouldn't mind losing to you. But if I were to lose to _Potter_ -' He shuddered.

Lily laughed again.

* * *

'Welcome, students, to the Hogwarts Easter Hunt.'

Professor Slughorn's voice boomed to the crowd gathered on the grounds.

'Now, I'm sure you all know the rules… No? Really? Well then, I'll explain. The Head Boy and Girl,' he nodded to the boy and girl at his left, 'have kindly made the groups for the hunt.'

He waved his wand in the air and words in the form of blue fire appeared, spelling out names. Lily rushed forward to see her group. She breathed a sigh of relief. They were divided by dormitories. Lily turned, spotted Kalah and shot her a thumbs-up. Kalah returned it with a grin.

'Everyone know their groups? Alright. The rules are simple. There are a number of Easter eggs hidden in the castle and a number in the grounds. There are different sorts of eggs hidden. Some are quite easy to find and are worth ten points. These are the red and blue ones. Some are a little harder and are worth fifteen points. These are the green and yellow ones. And then there are the hard ones. They are each worth twenty points and are purple and orange in colour. When I say _harder_, I mean that to acquire on of them, you'll have to deal with the spells associated with them. A Disillusionment Charm, a Flying Charm, something of that sort. To make the game a bit challenging, you know.

'Then…' he said with an overly dramatic voice. 'You have the really hard ones. Tricky locations and, er, let's say that they'll be a challenge to get a hold of. These ones are silver or gold, and worth from twenty to thirty points.' There was a loud murmuring in the crowd.

'At the end of the two-hour time limit, the team that has gathered the most points wins a hundred points for their House as well as this wonderful basket of Honeydukes' best chocolate. Everyone set now?' Slughorn looked around the crowd to see hopeful, determined faces. 'Right then, off you go!' Slughorn pointed his wand to the air and red sparks shot out from them into the air. The first and second years scattered off immediately.

Lily pushed through the crowd to find Kalah, standing next to the remaining members of their team. Her brown eyes were lit with excitement.

'Ready to start?' she asked. Lily nodded eagerly.

'Oh, I hope it won't be _too_ hard,' said Mary, in a worried voice.

'Don't worry, Mary,' said Lily, smiling at her. 'We're not being graded.'

'I just want to get my hands on some of that Honeydukes ,' said Marlene, grinning madly.

'Right,' said Alice, clapping her hands. 'Let's get going.'

* * *

James pulled his arm out from behind the statue of Lachlan the Lanky, clutching a silver egg in his hands.

'This is too easy,' he said, showing the egg to his team mates. Peter cheered.

'Well done, James, well done!'

'So…' said Sirius, counting the eggs in his hand, 'that leaves us with fifty points! Not bad for only a half-hour's work huh?'

Remus took the eggs into his hands. 'No, it's fifty-five points. The silver one's worth twenty-five.'

'Even better!' exclaimed Sirius.

'Alright, where do you reckon we should go next? Frank?'

Frank looked pensive for awhile. 'Hm… I reckon we should try the kitchens.'

Sirius looked thoughtful and scratched his chin. 'Yeah, there might be an egg there.'

Frank grinned. 'That, and I'm starving.'

James snorted. 'The kitchens it is, then. Who knows, maybe there'll be an egg there. Besides, I reckon we've got the most points anyway.'

* * *

'Sixty points!' Lily beamed as she handed their eggs back to Alice, who slipped them into a small pouch.

'Ah… I can taste the Honeydukes already…' said Marlene, closing her eyes as she pictured the scene.

'Is that a candy shop?' asked Lily.

Marlene nodded. 'Yeah, it's a shop in Hogsmeade. They've got the best chocolate – my mum gave me some after a couple of the times she'd visited Hogsmeade.'

'Hogsmeade?'

'Yeah,' said Alice now. 'It's the village near Hogwarts. It's the only entirely non-Muggle village in Britain.'

'Non-muggle? So that means it's entirely magical!'

'Of course! But we only get to go to Hogsmeade in third year.'

Lily couldn't wait already…

There was only an hour left until the end of the contest. Both James' and Lily's teams had each collected eighty points' worth Easter eggs. It was getting harder to find eggs, as many people were starting to find them. James decided that the last place they should check was the school library.

James walked along the shelves; there were thousands of shelves, hundreds of narrow rows. He had almost reached the last row when he spotted a flash of red.

_Evans_.

He motioned for Sirius and the others.

Evans was reaching up to the highest shelf. Atop this shelf was a golden egg. James grinned. Slughorn was right. The golden and silver eggs would be the hardest to find. How many students actually _visited_ the library? But there was something wrong. Why didn't Evans just use a spell on it? Why would she have to reach for it herself?

Mary had seen James and his friends approach. She quickly nudged Marlene, who spun round, eyes wide.

'Too late, you lot, this one's ours,' said Marlene. Lily looked round mid-stretch. Sirius grinned.

'Well, it's not like you've actually got it in your hands,' he said easily. 'So I reckon it's still free.'

'Yeah, well, we _did_ get here first,' pointed out Kalah.

'And yet, you still haven't managed to get the egg,' pointed out Peter.

Lily decided to ignore them and continued to reach for the egg.

'Why can't you just Levitate it over?' asked James. Lily paused, contemplating for a moment whether she should ignore him. A moment later, she turned to him.

'It's spell-proof,' she said after a while. 'You can't use any spells on it.'

She turned back and tried again. Still no luck. She was simply too short. When she looked down again, James was suddenly next to her looking up on egg as well.

'None of us are tall enough to reach it,' he said quietly.

'I think I've realized that already, Potter.'

'Then why are you still trying to reach it yourself?'

Lily flushed. 'I – er – well, do you have any better ideas?'

James was in deep thought for a while, and then he got down on his knees and held out his hands, linking them together. Lily looked at them with a confused expression on her face.

'A boost?' supplied James.

Lily considered him for a moment. She really _did_ want to win this…

'Alright.' She stepped up onto his hands tentatively and reached for the egg. The task was almost too easy now. Her fingers clasped around it in a matter of seconds and she brought it down, stepping back onto the ground. Her team mates were all quiet around her now.

Lily looked down at the egg for a few moments before the dilemma hit her.

'All right, Evans, cough it up,' said Sirius loudly.

'No way, Black, we found it,' said Kalah. Sirius' gaze shifted to her.

'Ah, Ramnath… Have you forgotten _how_ you happened to acquire the egg?'

Lily paused, still looking at the egg. She could feel James' steady gaze on her. Finally, she looked up.

'Alright, Potter,' she said. 'I'll flip you for it.'

James considered her, and then grinned. 'Alright then.'

Sirius began to rummage through his robes. Then, he pulled out a Knut and tossed to it Lily, who fumbled with it, almost dropping it onto the floor. James laughed with amusement.

'OK – er – call it, Potter.'

'Er – what?'

'Call it. Heads or tails.'

'Heads or - what?'

Lily flipped the coin in her hand. 'Well, the side with this bloke's face on it is called heads, and the other side is called tails.'

James' face was lit with recognition now. 'Oh, you mean wizards or beasts.'

Lily furrowed her eyebrows.

'One side always has a picture of a wizard,' explained James. 'And the other side has a picture of a beast. Right?'

Lily looked carefully. 'Oh… right. Whichever. Pick one.'

'Er – heads.'

'OK.' Lily flipped the coin cleanly into the air.

'Let it hit the floor,' said Sirius.

Lily stepped back, allowing the coin space to fall onto the floor, while maintaining its spin. The rim of it hit the floor and it remained balanced on the library floor. Finally, the coin Knut became still, right on its side, revealing neither heads nor tails.

'Oh, for Merlin's sake,' muttered Remus exasperatedly. Frank roared with laughter.

'We need the egg more,' said Sirius quickly. 'I mean, it's pretty obvious our group's the only one with a chance of winning.'

A quick scowl appeared on Lily's face. 'What's that supposed to mean?' she demanded. 'We've got just as much of a chance as you do?'

'How many points have you got?' challenged James.

'Eighty!'

James opened his mouth to retort, but then closed it slowly, casting an anxious glance toward Remus. Lily grinned at him triumphantly.

'What about you?'

Remus took a quick peek into his sack of eggs. 'Eighty…'

Lily looked just as shell-shocked as him and glanced toward her own team.

'Any chance we can break the egg in half?' asked Frank. Remus glanced at him oddly, wondering whether he were joking, before he shook his head slowly.

'Let's just run,' whispered Kalah.

Finally, James spoke. 'Fine, you lot can keep it,' he said.

Lily heard Alice's quiet, 'Yes!' from behind her.

'What !?' exclaimed Sirius. 'James -!'

'They did find it first,' reasoned James, shrugging and running his hand through his hair. 'Besides, it's still a Gryffindor win. We still get the House points. So who cares?'

He cast a fleeting glance toward Lily and grinned at the astonished expression on her face.

* * *

'The winning team!' boomed Slughorn, throwing his arms in the air so suddenly that it caused Mary to jump with fear.

Lily took the basket of Honeydukes' chocolate in her hands as Slughorn announced the second year Gryffindor girls as the winners.

'My, my, Miss Evans, you never cease to amaze me,' Slughorn said as he reached to shake her hand. Lily fumbled with the basket, which Kalah and Marlene took from her rather happily. 'As promised – one hundred points to Gryffindor!'

Lily could see Sirius scowling in the crowd as the students began to file back into the castle. Marlene reached for a sherbet ball.

'My favourite,' she purred.

Lily glanced over at James' crowd; they were already lagging behind near an oak tree. She paused, contemplating. Finally, she sighed and grabbed a few bags of Every Flavour Beans and Fizzing Whizbees.

'I'll be right back,' she muttered, as she promptly walked away. Kalah watched with curiosity, before shrugging and helping herself to Droobles Best Blowing Gum.

It was Frank that noticed Lily approaching first.

'Oi, Lily,' he said with a short wave. James and Sirius' heads whipped round. Sirius narrowed his eyes.

'We wouldn't have won if you hadn't helped us, alright?' said Lily, all in one breath. 'So here.' And she shoved the sweets in to their hands, turned on her heel and walked away without another word.

* * *

'So, Hagrid,' said James, as he leaned back in his chair and attempted to take a bite out of Hagrid's rock cake, 'I was thinking, for our next detention, we should go to -'

'Oi, now see 'ere, James, yeh lot don' get ter choose what yeh do in detention,' said Hagrid sternly.

'Oh come on, Hagrid,' said Sirius easily, as he banged one of the rock cakes on the desk in an attempt to break it. 'You know perfectly well that a trip to the Forbidden Forest isn't much of a detention anymore. Maybe it was the first time.'

'When James thought he saw a centaur,' added Peter, holding back stifles of laughter.

'I did!' exclaimed James. 'I swear I saw a centaur!'

'Yeah, _sure_, James,' said Sirius, snorting with laughter.

James made an annoyed sound. 'Remus believes me.'

'I believe you believe you saw one,' agreed Remus. Sirius burst out into laughter.

'Alright, yeh lot, cut it out,' said Hagrid. 'James prob'ly did see one. There are a couple o' centaurs in the forest. Haven' met 'em yet, though.'

'See?' said James, with a triumphant grin. Remus rolled his eyes.

It was a Sunday afternoon and James, Sirius, Lupin and Peter had decided to visit Hagrid.

'In any case, yeh lot better stay outta trouble. Don' want to get the teachers too worked up, do yeh?' said Hagrid.

Sirius shrugged, leaning back in his chair as well. 'We don't do anything dangerous, you know… Come on, Hagrid, admit it. All we do is make Hogwarts more interesting.'

Hagrid chuckled again. 'Ne'er met trouble-makers like yeh, yeh know that?'

'We'll take that as a compliment,' said James, grinning.

* * *

Weeks passed and soon, exams were nearly upon them. Rather than lazing around outside, the students were forced to remain inside the castle. Of course, this didn't quite stop James and Sirius from going out to visit Hagrid under the Invisibility Cloak. During the last few days before exams started, however, Hagrid had started to refuse the four entry into his hut, telling them, 'I'm doin' it fer yer own good!'

James wrote his Potions exam on a Monday morning, and then his Astronomy exam at midnight, up on the tallest tower. During his History of Magic exam on Wednesday morning, James scribbled everything that Remus had told him about medieval witch-hunts. That afternoon centered around writing the Herbology exam in the greenhouses under a scorching sun; James remembered Sirius telling him he may not even show up to the exam due to the extreme heat.

Their second to last exam, on Friday morning, was Defence Against the Dark Arts. Professor Jenkins (who had replaced the retired Professor Gorgenstein this year) had prepared a sort of obstacle course outside in the sun, where they had to get past Cornish pixies and other such creatures. Remus seemed to think the obstacle course was an inspired idea.

James was still packing up his school trunk on the last day of term.

'So James,' said Sirius casually, as he stuffed his clothes into his trunk. 'Who gets the book?'

There had been a conflict the past few days over who would get to keep the Animagi book over the summer. James and Sirius had argued that they each were very interested in the matter and wanted to learn over the summer. Peter was insistent on the fact that he needed it the most; after all, he was still reading the second chapter.

Remus found a solution to the problem.

'Pass it here,' he said exasperatedly. James tossed the book halfway across the room where Remus was packing up his own things. Remus placed the book onto his bed, tapped it with his wand and muttered a spell. Immediately, three other copies appeared beside it.

Peter's jaw dropped open. 'You've got to teach me that one.' Remus gave him a small smile in return.

'Oi, why three extra copies?' asked Sirius, peering at the four books. 'You're not planning on becoming Animagi!'

Remus flushed. 'Well – er – I thought I'd study the theory. Just for fun.'

Peter scoffed. 'Fun!?' he asked incredulously.

'Shut it,' said Remus shortly, throwing James and Sirius each a copy of the book. 'Here, Peter,' he added to Peter, who scuffled toward Remus and took the book.

'Aren't we the daredevils,' said Sirius sarcastically, as he fanned himself with the book's pages. 'We read for fun during the summer.'

Peter snorted with laughter.

* * *

Too soon, the end-of-the-year feast had finished, with Ravenclaw as the winners of the House Cup.

James, Sirius, Remus and Peter parted ways back on Platform 9 3/4.

'Right, so I'll see you lot, then,' said Sirius, looking rather put out.

James grinned. 'You know, the option's still open.'

Sirius furrowed his eyebrows. 'What option?'

'Staying over at my place,' said James simply with a shrug. 'And that goes for you two as well,' he added, glancing pointedly at Remus and Peter. 'My place is real boring, you know.'

Peter chuckled at James' misfortune. His own parents enjoyed travelling, and so Peter visited a different continent every year.

Sirius returned his grin. 'Don't worry. 'I'll take you up on that one day. For now though, we'll stick to owls, right?' He held out his right fist.

James lightly knocked his own fist against Sirius'. 'Right.'

* * *

'Yes, Sev, he is an annoying git,' said Lily as she sprawled herself across the grass and gazed up at the clouds.

Snape watched her greedily and nodded his head. 'I know,' he agreed. 'And he hexed you too. Remember?'

'I remember, Sev…'

Lily was at a grassy area near the playground, with Sneverus sitting next to her. He had a tendency in bringing up Potter in every conversation they had, and Lily was growing rather weary of the topic. She changed the subject.

'How are your parents?' she asked tentatively.

Because Severus' parents were having troubles again, and Petunia was avoiding Lily more than every, the two often tried to stay away from the house scene.

Severus' face turned sour. 'The same. You know…'

Lily didn't press the matter. She knew well enough what Severus' parents were like.

* * *

_--- James_

_Hey, have you gotten to chapter 4 yet? Let me know when you get there._

_--- Sirius

* * *

_

_--- Sirius_

_Hah! Way past you, Sirius, old pal! I__'__m halfway through chapter 5. Why do you ask?_

_--- James

* * *

_

_--- J_

_Yeah? Well__…__ remember how it mentions picking an animal? Have you decided what animal you're going to choose to transform into?_

_--- S

* * *

_

_--- James_

_Hiya! Guess who just hit chapter three! By the way, I got a bit stuck there. Help?_

_--- Peter

* * *

_

_--- P_

_Chapter three? Whoa, Pete, I'm proud of you. Sure, what d'you need help on?_

_--- J

* * *

_

_--- S_

_Hm__…__ nah, I haven__'__t given much thought to it yet. I figure I'll learn the theory, and then give it a nice long think. You?_

_--- J

* * *

_

_--- J_

_Yeah, that makes sense. But it says that you should choose animals that are more like you. Personality-wise, I mean. So tell me James, what sort of animal do I strike you as?_

_--- S

* * *

_

_--- Remus_

_Which chapter are you on mate? Tell me you__'__re past chapter 5. James' gloating about how he's past me._

_--- Sirius

* * *

_

_--- S_

_Hehe__…__ Beat you both, I__'__m on chapter 7. But you know Sirius, it's not a contest. You should take your time when you read it. Don't want to be making any mistakes, do you?_

_--- R

* * *

_

_--- R_

_Oi, you calling me dumb? I can perfectly well read fast AND understand at the same time, thank you very much._

_--- S

* * *

_

_--- S_

_What kind of animal? Hm__…__ I was thinking a pig__…__ or a donkey maybe?_

_--- J

* * *

_

_--- J_

_Har har__…__ real funny mate__…__ but just out of curiosity… why pig?_

_--- S

* * *

_

_--- S_

_Oblivious to your own eating habits, huh?_

_--- J

* * *

_

_-- J_

_I see. Then I__'__ll make no comment on the donkey thing. By the way, how's your progress coming along?_

_--- S

* * *

_

_--- S_

_My progress? Need you ask? I__'__m whizzing through the information with incredible speed and intelligence. Perhaps my progress is (dare I say it) perhaps better than Remus'!_

_--- J

* * *

_

_--- J_

_*snort* Incredible speed and intelligence? Sorry to burst your bubble, mate-o-mine, but Remus is on chapter 7. Hah!_

_--- S

* * *

_

_--- S_

_Snorting, huh? See what I mean? A pig is perfect, I'm telling you._

_--- J

* * *

_

_--- J_

_You know, since you have the honour of attempting to pick an animal for me (remember… I said attempt, I haven't said I was actually going to choose your answer) I believe I should have the same honour. Now… what sort of animal suits James Potter?_

_--- S

* * *

_

_--- Remus_

_Hey, are you really on chapter 7?_

_--- James

* * *

_

_--- J_

_Hehe__…__ Sirius told you, did he? Honestly, I don__'__t know why you two are so hung up over who's further on in the book._

_--- R

* * *

_

_--- S_

_I refuse to respond to 'your honour'. I wonder what animal Pete's going to choose._

_--- J

* * *

_

An owl flew in through Lily's kitchen window as she was eating breakfast.

'Look, mum!'

Mrs Evans gave a startled gasp. She wasn't particularly fond of owls, but because they were flying in every so often since Lily turned eleven, she was becoming rather used to them. Lily had even been allowed to buy an owl for herself last summer, one she'd chosen to name Tuney, after her sister. If Petunia was flattered, she didn't show it.

Lily was close to giving up in her attempts to befriend her sister again. Petunia gave no signs of open hatred, but Lily was clever enough to pick up the signs. She forced herself, however, not to mind too much about Petunia's lessening care for her. After all, she was still behaving civilly toward her, wasn't she? Besides, Mr and Mrs. Evans had told her not to worry about the matter too much. Still, Lily couldn't help but get the feeling that Petunia was only acting civil toward her because of their intervention.

Momentarily, Tuney was at Kalah's house, delivering a letter. Of course, Mrs Evans still didn't think of owls as her favourite birds, but at least now, she wouldn't scream and run out of the room every time one entered the house.

Lily jumped up and approached the owl. She quickly untied the letter from its foot, patted it on the back and resumed her seat at the kitchen table as the owl flew off. She tore open her letter, ignoring Petunia gazing at her suspiciously from the corner of her eye, with her cereal spoon hanging limply from her hand and her mouth partly open.

The letter was quite obviously from Hogwarts, considering coat of arms that was used to seal it. Lily unfolded the letter and her eyes scanned over the words upon it.

_Dear Miss Evans,_

_Please note that the new school year will begin on September the first. The Hogwarts Express will leave from King's Cross station, platform nine and three-quarters, at eleven o'clock._

_Third years are permitted to visit the village of Hogsmeade on certain weekends. Please give the enclosed permission form to your parent or guardian to sign._

_A list of books for next year is enclosed._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Professor M. McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress_

_Third year._ Lily gaped at the seniority that seemed to arrive with it. She could remember the day when she received her first letter from Hogwarts. Lily's eyes brightened with anticipation as she read the word 'Hogsmeade'.

Now that the owl had flown off, Mrs Evans had resumed her place at the stove, frying bacon on a pan.

'What have you got there, sweetie?' she asked turning her head slightly to look at Lily.

Lily looked at her and smiled widely. 'Mum, it's my Hogwarts letter. Guess what? Third years get to go to Hogsmeade! Remember that place I told you?'

'Ah, yes, I remember!'

'But you've got to sign my form, alright?'

'Sure, honey. Just leave it on the kitchen table.'

Lily placed her letter and the form carefully on the kitchen table, then got up. She placed her cereal bowl in the sink and left the kitchen in a rather cheerful manner. She was so cheerful, in fact, that she hadn't noticed Petunia's glower toward her Hogsmeade form.

* * *

_--- James_

_Hey, have you gotten your forms yet? Hogsmeade, mate! Can't wait! My mum's real excited. Not about Hogsmeade, but because little Regulus gets to start Hogwarts this year. She's going over the top, buying him special robes and books and presents and the whole lot. Probably hoping he's not a disappointment like his big brother. Personally, I hope he's in Slytherin too. An annoying little git, he is._

_--- Sirius

* * *

_

'Oh, there you are, Lily!' exclaimed Mrs Evans as Lily entered the house, back from a trip to the playground. She held out a slip of paper that Lily recognized as her Hogsmeade form. She took it happily, looking down upon it. A furrow appeared between her eyebrows.

'Er… mum? Why's it all –?'

'Oh, sorry about that dear! Petunia was drinking her afternoon tea when I was signing it and she accidentally spilt it all over the form! She's devastated, poor thing.'

'Oh, well, that's alright. As long as Professor McGonagall can read it.' Lily smiled brightly at her. 'Well, I'll just go put this away, shall I?'

* * *

James and Sirius walked through Diagon Alley a week before September the first, having separated themselves from their parents.

'Remember what McGonagall was saying about animal Transfiguration? It's real similar to Animagi, you know,' said Sirius, walking alongside James.

'Yeah, I know,' agreed James, 'because for both you need to – whoa, look at that!'

James ran forward to a shop with a window display. Sirius jogged up behind him. It was a broomstick display, around the edges of which stood a variety of brooms. Hovering in the middle of it all, however, surrounded by red and green lights, was a broomstick on its own. James pressed his nose against he glass, gazing up at the sole broom in wonder and amazement.

'It's the new Nimbus 1500!' exclaimed James, eyes goggling upon it.

Sirius surveyed it with his head cocked to one side. 'Not bad,' he said.

'I'm going to ask my dad for it,' said James. 'I'll need a broom when I join the Quidditch team this year, anyway.'

'You're going to join the Quidditch team?'

''Course,' said James proudly. 'Like my dad. I've been practicing with his broom since first year. I can't wait.'

Sirius grinned in response.


	5. Quidditch

_**Disclaimer**: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. In order to make my story seem more authentic, I have literally cut and pasted direct scenes from Rowling's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. These scenes are clearly italicized, and are properly referenced that the end of the chapter._

_

* * *

_

_**"What is genius but the power of expressing a new individuality?"**_

_**--- Elizabeth Barrett Browning**_

_**

* * *

**_

'I found an empty one, Sev,' called Lily as she slid open a compartment door and led Severus inside.

She sat down upon a seat near the window and Severus sat across from her, pushing back his overgrown hair tiredly.

'Did you get your Hogsmeade form signed, Sev?' asked Lily.

Severus nodded. 'Yeah, it wasn't easy. I don't think my dad wanted me to go.'

'Why not?'

'He's not – well, he doesn't like magic very much. He didn't even want me to come to Hogwarts. That's why he doesn't pay for my books or cloaks or anything. He didn't even come to see me off today,' he added, his voice taking a glum tone.

Lily made a sympathetic face. 'He didn't?'

Severus shook his head. 'Nope. Only Mum came.' He pressed his nose against the window and peered outside in an apparent search for his mother. 'Oh, hold on… no, I think she left.' Severus broke his gaze from the window and shrugged at Lily.

Lily's frown deepened. Her best friend's parents hardly got along and weren't the least bit supportive in their son's endeavours. Severus had probably grown up alone. And as if that wasn't bad enough, he was constantly getting picked on, especially when Lily wasn't present to help him. This was the greatest motive for Lily's dislike toward Potter and Black. The two of them always managed to make the situation worse. Lily felt a rush of loyalty as she decided to be the best friend she possibly could be to Severus - it was the least she could do, after all.

As the train began to move, Lily glanced out the window, watching the figure of her own parents, waving up at her, became more and more distant. She gave them a final wave before the train turned a corner and the disappeared from view.

Finally, they were off to Hogwarts…

* * *

'Anything from the cart, dears?'

James jumped out of his seat and approached the cart with a grin of anticipation.

'I'll take this,' he said , picking up a box of Chocolate Frogs, 'and this,' a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans now, 'and this, and this, oh and this one too.' He picked up more sweets, rummaged through his pockets for gold, placed the coins into the witch's hand and plopped back down onto his seat.

'E'ry flayer beans annvershry,' mumbled Sirius after awhile, with his mouth full of at least three chocolate frogs at once.

Remus looked at him, disgusted. 'Honestly Sirius, would it kill you to swallow _before_ you talk?'

Sirius grinned toothily, revealing a pair of Chocolate Frog legs stuck between his teeth. James winced. 'Shawree, Reemus,' said Sirius. He swallowed.

'Right,' he said, once he had done so, 'I said, 'Every Flavour Beans' is having its twenty-fifth anniversary.'

'Oi, Sirius,' said James, getting off his chair and stretching. 'Want to go for a walk? Check out the other compartments? My leg's falling asleep. Maybe we'll see Snivelly on the way,' he added with a grin.

Sirius returned it as he got to his feet lazily.

'Come on, Pete,' he said, motioning with his hands. 'Time for some exercise.'

'Har, har,' said Peter humourlessly. 'Don't make me sit on you.'

Sirius grinned and put his hands up in defeat before turning to Remus. 'Coming, Remus?'

'No thanks,' said Remus, not taking his eyes off the Animagi book in his hands. 'I think I'll just stay here.'

'Alright… he probably wants to finish the book before us,' muttered James under his breath. Sirius and Peter laughed.

'I heard that,' said Remus, succeeding in stopping the laughter immediately.

James slid the compartment door shut behind him and muttered, 'I wonder if werewolves have super-hearing.'

'I heard that too,' called Remus' voice from inside the compartment. James and Sirius exchanged bewildered glances at the call and Peter's mouth was a perfect 'o'. They heard Remus chuckle from inside.

'So,' said James conversationally as they walked down the train corridor. 'How are things at home?'

Sirius made a face. 'You mean with little goody-good Reggie? Perfect. Absolutely brilliant.'

'So how are things really like?'

'My mum was at a right state down at the platform. She can tell who's got Muggle parentage just by looking at them. Apparently, too many of them are coming to Hogwarts this year. She's counting on Regulus to be a Slytherin and bring honour to the Black family name.' He said the last few words with a mocking tone of voice.

'Regulus' real happy too. He kept going on about Hogwarts at home. He'll be jumping at the chance to befriend the Malfoy's, I expect. And you know how Malfoy's whole family's real close to You-Know-Who.'

Sirius paused, and then tilted his head slowly to one side.

'What is it?' asked James. Sirius was peering into a compartment through its window. He turned to James and Peter, a smirk growing on his face.

'Snivellus.'

* * *

Lily watched the scenery as she bit upon a toffee. They were at least halfway through their journey to Hogwarts by now. Lily glanced at Severus, then back out the window. She wondered briefly what Kalah and Alice were doing now. Lily had invited her Gryffindor friends to her compartment, but they had politely declined, and Lily knew it was because of Severus. They never did understand why she was his best friend, and why she continued to speak with him. But it didn't bother her. Although her friends did not like Severus all that much, they weren't rude to him, and this suited Lily just fine.

This was most definitely not the case with Potter and Black.

Suddenly the compartment door slid open. Lily and Severus both looked up to the new arrival. Lily scowled. Severus scowled deeper. Standing at the entrance of the compartment was Potter, Black and a small boy who Lily knew was Peter Pettigrew.

'What do you want, Potter?'

He seemed to have ignored her as Sirius advanced toward Severus.

'All right, Snivellus?' he asked menacingly.

Severus whipped out his wand, but James already had his out.

'_Expelliarmus!'_

Severus's wand flew out of his hand and into James' outstretched one. Sirius laughed and pulled out his own wand. Peter gave a shrill laugh but maintained his position near the compartment door.

'Give him back his wand, Potter,' shouted Lily coldly. 'And get out.'

Sirius surveyed her. 'And if we don't?'

Lily pulled out her wand from the pocket of her Muggle jeans. James and Sirius exchanged glances and raised an eyebrow at her.

'Are you sure you want to do that, Evans?' asked Sirius.

'I'm sure I will if you don't give my friend back his wand and get out!'

James and Sirius both stared at her for a moment, and Lily stared back. Finally, James sighed and tossed Severus his wand.

'James!' came Sirius' indignant voice.

Severus caught his wand eagerly and brought it up in preparation, his mouth half-open to shoot a curse at James.

'Sev, don't,' said Lily softly. Severus put his wand down immediately.

James glanced from Lily to Severus curiously before Lily spoke again.

'Get out, all of you!' she demanded, glaring at James again. 'Or I'll report you to Professor Dumbledore.'

'Er, I think we should go,' said Peter, his eyes going round with fear. If there was anything at all he feared, it was authority.

'Come on, mate,' said James to Sirius tiredly. 'We'll get Snivellus later.'

Sirius paused. 'Or, we could just get him now...' He raised his wand slowly.

'Come _on_, Sirius.'

Sirius sighed too and with one more glare toward Severus, followed James and Peter out of the compartment.

* * *

Lily sorted the books in her trunk, pulling out the textbooks she had purchased in Diagon Alley. This year she was taking newer subjects. There were five elective classes for third year: Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, Divination and Muggle Studies. From these five, Lily had settled for Ancient Runes, Arithmancy and Care of Magical Creatures.

Muggle Studies was not one of her choices; she was a Muggle-born, after all. The decision to not take Divination, however was a rather hard one. Lily had always been quite interested in fortune-telling. The thought of someone being able to tell the future and foresee its events was an intriguing one.

But after much consideration, Lily had decided that Ancient Runes and Arithmancy were both very strong options. Lily's father was an accountant, and he was rather attached to mathematics. Because Arithmancy was perhaps the closest thing to Muggle math, he had been hinting all summer for Lily's enrolment in that class. Ancient Runes, however, was a choice Lily had made herself. She had read the Ancient Runes information package the year before and it was perhaps even more intriguing than Divination. Of course, it was known to be rather hard, but Lily was ready for the challenge.

Care of Magical Creatures was the first elective Lily had chosen. The logic behind this was simple: if plants in the wizarding world were extraordinary, what would _animals _in the wizarding world be like? Pure curiosity drove her toward this course option, and when Lily discussed her course options at home, even Petunia sounded somewhat fascinated.

'Lily, you coming?'

Lily glanced up at Kalah, who stood with Alice by the dormitory door, ready to make their way down to the Great Hall to pick up their timetables. Lily stowed a couple of large textbooks into her rucksack.

'Yeah,' she replied, throwing the sack over her back. 'I'm coming.'

'Get up, you two! McGonagall's going to give us detention if we're late on the first day,' said Remus sternly, standing in between the foot of both James and Sirius' beds. Peter stood beside him, yawning, but ready for class himself.

James slowly sat up, his eyes still closed as he stretched.

'Doesn't matter, Remus,' he mumbled, yawning. 'We get detention on the first day for Dungbomb-ing Filch's office anyway.'

Remus sighed and Sirius got up too, stretching his arms.

'That's true,' he agreed. 'By the way, I've got a couple of dungbombs left from last year, mate. We could do Filch's office today.'

Peter chuckled and Sirius looked up at him.

'Morning, you lot - whoa, Pete, what happened to your hair?' he exclaimed.

James's eyes flew open to cast a glance upon Peter, who turned faintly pink. Peter's hair seemed to have been gelled and was parted to either side from the center.

'My mum says it makes me look smart,' he mumbled, looking down at his feet.

James and Sirius roared with laughter, which succeeded in making Peter turn redder. When the laughter had ceased, James was standing next to Peter, surveying his friend.

'Hate to break this to you, mate,' he said, 'but your mum never met Snivellus Snape, and I reckon you look a lot like him right now -'

'- with a lot less hair,' interjected Sirius.

'And Snivellus is the furthest thing from smart you'll ever find,' finished James, grinning.

Peter was beet red now. 'Oh, shut up,' he grumbled.

Once they had gotten dressed, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter headed down to the Great Hall to retrieve their timetables. James knew this year would be a lot different than the last two. The classes, for one, were more varied and presumably harder. But, as though to compensate for the workload, third-years were allowed trips to Hogsmeade Village. And on top of that, there was the Quidditch team, for which James had already made plans to try out.

James had decided to take three new subjects this year: Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures and Divination. Arithmancy was one of his mother's brilliant ideas; Mrs Potter had figured that Arithmancy would be extremely useful in the long run and unfortunately for James, Mr Potter had agreed.

But Arithmancy was only a minor setback that was quickly made up for by Care of Magical Creatures. James had purchased 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' during the summer, and the more he read it, the more he wanted to meet these fantastic beasts.

His last elective, Divination, was chosen through a process of elimination. For James, it was a choice between either Divination, Ancient Runes or Muggle Studies. Ancient Runes was out of the question; James had decided that there was no way he was going to spend countless hours of classes learning a number of symbols he couldn't care less about. Although his mother had also advocated for this class, James had put his foot down on the matter. As for Muggle Studies, just thinking about the class caused horrid scenes of what Muggles called football to flash through James' mind. And the thought of a game in which players had to stay on the ground and use a ball that couldn't move on its own was far too unbearable. As a result, Divination was the only class that James was willing to take. In any case, he couldn't pretend that the idea of fortune-telling didn't interest him even a little.

* * *

_Quidditch Try-outs_

_Chaser and Seeker Wanted_

_This Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m._

_On the Quidditch Pitch_

_

* * *

_

'Right. Sirius – you've got the dungbombs?' asked James.

Sirius held up a small box. 'Right here.'

'Good. Remus – where's Filch?'

'Near the Transfiguration office.'

'Awesome. Peter – where's Peeves?'

'Knocking down suits of armour near the Transfiguration office.' Oddly enough, most of James' pranks seemed to involve Peeves, though the poltergeist was not helping voluntarily. James, Sirius, Remus and Peter were in the midst of their annual 'Toss Dungbombs in Filch's office' operation, though, it was in fact a rather simple procedure. The four friends were currently stationed at the corner around Filch's office.

'Even better. OK, let's go.'

Sirius moved in front and the four of them strolled casually to the front of Filch's office door. Sirius bent over the doorknob and worked at it for a few moments before it clicked open. Remus and Peter both found their positions at the corners on either side of the hallway, ready to intercept any interference. When Sirius had managed to unlock the door, James stood at the entrance, looked round the office, and then promptly threw the dungbomb in.

The effect was immediate. There was a small 'bang', and then a horrible stench filled the air. Looking immensely satisfied, James shut the door, trapping the odour in the confines of the room.

Remus poked his head from around the corner.

'Filch's coming!'

James whipped out his invisibility cloak immediately and beckoned for his three friends. He had only just enveloped them all when Filch came bustling around the corner, cursing.

'Bloody Peeves, good for nothing - if he weren't dead already, I'd murder the little -'

James silently motioned for his friends to walk backwards to a safe distance as Filch approached his office door and made his way in, still muttering.

James waited for a few moments for the full effect to take place. Then…

'POTTER! BLACK!' Filch had rushed out, red in the face and looking as though he were about to burst a blood vessel.

'Scum! Good for nothing scum's all that's in here! I'll get you, you bloody hooligans!'

Yelling and cursing, he shuffled round the corner to where James suspected was Dumbledore's office. Once he had disappeared from view, James and Sirius burst into laughter. James took off his invisibility cloak.

'Did – you – see – his – face?' choked Sirius through bits of laughter. Peter was rolling around the floor, pounding his fists at the ground. Even Remus, who usually didn't approve of the small pranks James and Sirius came up with, was laughing, as though appreciating the simplicity of the prank.

'What do you think he'll do when he finds us?' asked James, still laughing.

'Oh, I expect at least a week of detentions,' responded Sirius. 'Either that or we'll be subjected to the Cruciatus Curse. Then again… Filch is a Squib!'

James and Sirius burst into more fits of laughter.

On Saturday morning, James and Sirius made their way to the Quidditch pitch; James was sporting his brand new Nimbus 1500. As he had expected, it seemed as though half of Gryffindor house seemed to have turned up: from shifty-eyed, nervous looking first years to the tall seventh years, at whom the first-years were glancing fearfully.

After awhile, when a rather large crowd of people had formed, the fifth year Gryffindor Quidditch captain, Will Johnson, stepped forward.

'Right,' he said, surveying all the people. 'I'll start with a basic test. Get into groups of ten and fly once around the pitch.'

James tightened his grip on his broom and mounted it immediately, adrenaline pumping through his veins already in anticipation of a competition. He kicked off the ground and followed several other people who were now circling the pitch. Many of the first years below were glancing from their brooms to the airborne people above them, realising that they had made a mistake in arriving to the tryouts.

Once the basic test was complete, Johnson decided to hold the tryouts for the Seeker position, followed by the tryouts for the Chaser position.

'Well done, Potter,' said Johnson gruffly as James landed on the ground after having completed his trial; he had been last to try out. Half the students that had arrived that morning for the trials had disappeared.

'Right,' said Johnson, addressing the remaining students in a loud voice. 'A lot of you flew really well today. I'll post up the new Quidditch team in the common room in a week.'

James felt slightly crestfallen, having expected an answer today. Sighing, he made his way toward Sirius, who was sitting in the stands with Remus and Peter; they had come to watch his tryout. Sirius jumped down and clapped James on the back.

'Did he name you the new Quidditch captain?' asked Sirius with a grin. James rolled his eyes.

'Great flying, James!' exclaimed Peter.

'I'm impressed,' added Remus.

James grinned at them appreciatively.

* * *

'Oi, I think Johnson's posted the new Quidditch team!' exclaimed James as he thundered down the boy's dormitory staircase.

'Yeah, yeah… That's what you said yesterday,' replied Sirius, evidently taking his time as he descended.

'No, really he has!'

'Correction. _That's_ what you said yesterday.'

'Sirius, he's right!' said Remus, looking rather amazed.

'Yeah?'

James had rushed toward the bulletin board that hung on the far end of the common room and was examining it as Sirius, Remus and Peter joined him.

James read the note posted on the wall:

_Gryffindor Quidditch Team_

_Returning Players: __Will Johnson – Chaser/Captain (fifth year)_

_Dorcas Meadowes – Chaser (fourth year)_

_Gideon Prewett __–__ Beater (seventh year)_

_Fabian Prewett __–__ Beater (seventh year)_

_Kingsley Shacklebolt __–__ Keeper (fourth year)_

_New Players:__ James Potter – Chaser (third year)_

_Marlene Sanders __–__ Seeker (third year)_

_Practice begins Monday morning on the pitch at 6:30 a.m._

'YES! I made Chaser!'

James began to jump up and down, attracting a rather large amount of attention. Several students in the common room looked around at him with peculiar expressions on their faces. Remus nudged James hard in the ribs and the newly appointed Chaser cleared his throat.

'Er - sorry,' he said. There was some nervous giggling, and then everyone seemed to return their attention elsewhere. James turned to Sirius, Remus and Peter and in a loud whisper, exclaimed, 'I made Chaser!'

'Yeah mate, I think everyone heard,' said Sirius, grinning and patting him on the back.

James returned the grin. For the rest of the day, that grin was stuck on James' face and his walk became something more of a strut…

* * *

'I didn't know you tried out for Seeker, Marlene!'

Marlene grinned up at Lily as she sprawled across the floor on her stomach, completing the day's homework. 'I wasn't sure I'd make it.'

'I'm really glad you did,' said Kalah. 'There were too many boys on that team.'

'James made Chaser, did you hear?' said Alice, flipping through the newest edition of Witch Weekly.

Lily made a face. 'Who hasn't heard? He was practically announcing it to everyone he saw at breakfast this morning. Didn't you see him? Strutting around like he owned the place,' said Lily distastefully.

'Is he any good, Marlene?'

Marlene shrugged. 'I left right after my tryout. I didn't see him fly.'

'Who cares?' said Lily, distaste still clear in her facial features. 'It's just _Potter_…'

The door swung open right then and a teary-eyed Mary stumbled into the room.

'Mary?'

'What's wrong?'

Mary burst into tears and Lily led her to the bed where Kalah was sitting. Kalah crawled over to her and put her arm around Mary's shoulder comfortingly. Mary's sobs filled the room and no one said anything for a while.

After a minute's silence, Lily spoke.

'Mary? What's wrong? What happened?'

Mary replied between sniffs. 'A – Avery – and – M – Mulciber,' she choked. 'They – they called me a m – mudblood!'

Alice gasped. Marlene clapped her hands over her mouth. Kalah looked outraged.

'They _what_?' exclaimed Marlene.

'Mudblood?' repeated Lily blankly.

Mary nodded and began wiping her eyes.

Lily was still confused. 'Er… what's a mudblood?'

Everyone looked at her, bewildered. After awhile, when they decided that Lily wasn't joking, Alice answered.

'A Mudblood's about the most insulting thing you can say,' said Alice.

'It's a really foul name for someone who's Muggleborn – you know, non-magic parents,' continued Marlene.

'And there are some wizards – like Avery and Mulciber –' Kalah said their names with a tone of utter disgust, 'who think they're better than everyone else because they're what people call pureblood.'

Lily looked shell-shocked. She had discussed the pureblood/Muggleborn issue with Severus, but he had assured her that being a Muggle-born did not make her any less than a pureblood. Because of this, Lily had no idea this sort of discrimination existed at Hogwarts.

'So,' said Lily, looking deep in thought as she digested the new turn of events, 'that means… I'm a Mudblood too, right?'

Kalah looked horrified. 'Lily, don't call yourself that! It doesn't matter _what_ kind of blood anyone has!'

'Because everyone at Hogwarts can do magic,' said Alice, her voice low as she directed her speech toward a sobbing Mary. 'Being a Muggleborn doesn't mean you're not a witch.'

'Avery and Mulciber are gits, is all,' said Marlene. 'They don't know what they're talking about.'

'And they'll be failing their O.W.L.s in two years' time, purebloods or not,' said Kalah.

Mary laughed through her tears and nodded. 'Thanks, you lot.'

* * *

James made his way to the stands after his first Quidditch practice that next Monday morning, his hair plastered to his face with sweat as he carried his broom over his shoulder and his sweaty Quidditch clothes in a rucksack. He prodded Sirius, who had fallen asleep.

'Whassamatter?' mumbled Sirius, sitting upright.

'You fell asleep, you dolt,' said James.

Sirius yawned. 'Yeah, well, it took you forever to come out of the changing rooms. What are you doing, having practice at 6:30 anyway?'

'He's a madman,' said James, shaking his head vigorously and sending beads of sweat flying around him. 'Come on, let's get some breakfast.'

* * *

'Mr Potter, why don't you give it a go?'

James' head shot up.

'Huh?'

'Answer the question, please.'

'What question?'

There was yet another new teacher for Defence Against the Dark Arts, Professor Cornell, who had replaced last year's Professor Jenkins. Professor Jenkins had acquired a Charms teaching position last year and had jumped at the opportunity to teach at Beauxbatons Academy.

Professor Cornell gave James a stern face.

'What is a Boggart, Mr Potter?'

Beside him, James could see Remus's hand, still and unwavering in the air. But he needn't pass this question; he knew the answer.

'A shape-shifter,' said James easily. 'It takes the shape of whatever scares us the most.'

Professor Cornell looked satisfied at the answer and continued talking. James smirked smugly. Of course he knew the answer. He just hadn't heard the question. He was too busy looking at… what was it exactly? James distinctly remembered the colour red…

* * *

'Lily, get up!'

Lily groaned as a pillow hit her on the face. She opened her eyes slowly. Kalah was standing over her with a grin plastered on her face.

'What is it, Kalah?' mumbled Lily, grabbing hold of the intruding pillow and adding it to her collection of pillows Kalah had thrown at her. 'What time is it?'

'Almost nine-thirty,' said Kalah brightly.

'Am I late for Charms? I'm late for Charms!' Lily bolted upright in sitting position immediately.

'It's a Saturday, Lily.'

Lily collapsed back down on her bed.

'Why'd you wake me, then?'

'Er - the Quidditch match? Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff.'

Lily bolted upright again. 'Right! I forgot!'

'Come on,' said Kalah. 'Marlene went down to the pitch with Mary and Alice is saving us a seat at breakfast.'

'Why didn't you wake me sooner?' asked Lily as she rummaged through her trunk.

Kalah rolled her eyes. 'I wake you up and you complain. I don't wake you up and you still complain.'

Lily laughed from the bathroom doorway.

* * *

James looked out at the large crowd. He hadn't expected this many people to show up. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around. Will was standing behind him, attempting a smile that only looked like a grimace.

'You know, Potter, I say this to every first timer at the beginning of a match,' he said, his tone serious. 'Winning isn't everything.'

'Yeah?'

'You bet. But that doesn't mean we're here to lose. Don't make the last few weeks a complete waste, yeah, Potter?' He clapped James on the shoulder.

'Er - thanks, Will,' said James as his captain made his way to his position at the front.

Will began to walk out onto the field and James followed him with the rest of his team, the sound of cheers echoing through his ears.

Madam Knight was refereeing. She stood in the middle of the field waiting for the two teams, her broom in her hand.

'Now, I want a nice fair game, all of you,' she said, once they were all gathered around her. 'Mount your brooms, please.'

James clambered onto his Nimbus 1500.

Madam Knight gave a loud blast on her silver whistle.

Fifteen brooms rose up into the air and the game began.

'And the Quaffle is taken already! By, er… I forget his name; some tall, lanky fellow -'

'BLACK!'

'No, Professor, _I'm_ Black…'

'Black…'

James chuckled and peered up at the podium to see a grinning Sirius Black doing the commentary for the match, closely watched by Professor McGonagall.

'Sorry, a little joke, see… Er… Johnson… Right, Will Johnson! Johnson's passed it onto Meadowes – nice catch, Meadowes – and – no, Hufflepuff Chaser Amos Diggory's got a hold of the Quaffle now, passes it onto Diggle – Diggle's shooting upwards now – OUCH – that's got to hurt – nice Bludger attack by the Prewett brothers – Whoa – James Potter's got the Quaffle now – if I might bring your attention to the brand new Nimbus 1500 Potter's sporting right now… amazing agility and speed and -'

'BLACK!'

'Oh, right. Sorry Professor. Potter's off now toward the goal – he's really flying – dodges a speeding Bludger – the goal posts are ahead – come on, now, James – get this and I'll buy you a Chocolate Frog – Keeper MacMillan dives – misses – GRYFFINDORS SCORE!'

Gryffindor cheers filled the cold air and Sirius was jumping up and down with the magical microphone in his hand.

James grinned as Madam Knight threw the Quaffle into the air again. He waited in his position, preparing to execute one of Will's new strategies. He was to fly backward and wait for Dorcas to pass the Quaffle to him. In the meantime, he scanned the crowd. There didn't seem to be so many people in the Quidditch pitch anymore. In fact, James was starting to wish that more people had shown up.

James glanced toward the Gryffindor stands, keeping tabs of all the people who had shown up. There was Barney Brown in the fourth row and Will Johnson's sister in the seventh row. Peter and Remus were sitting in the fifth row, their eyes following the Quaffle's movements. Evans and her friends were in the second row. Evans was talking animatedly to Ramnath next to her. She had a Gryffindor red and gold striped scarf wrapped around her neck and there was a high flush on her cheeks from the cold October weather.

'Johnson's passed it to Meadowes now – Meadowes dodges a Bludger – passes it to Potter – who's just floating there – staring at – er – _Evans_? … What the hell is he doing? Watch out, James!'

A Bludger made contact with James head. He felt a sharp pain near his temple and his view started to blur. The last thing he saw was a confused look on Evans' face before everything started to spin and turn black…

* * *

'Merlin, he's _alive_.'

'I thought the poor bloke kicked the bucket for sure.'

'He was just floating there mindlessly…'

James' eyes snapped open. He was lying in the hospital wing. The Gryffindor Quidditch team, splattered with mud from head to foot, was gathered around his bed. Sirius, Remus and Peter were also there, looking rather pale.

'James!' exclaimed Will, who looked extremely white underneath the mud. 'How're you feeling?'

James head was aching so much he could barely talk. 'What happened?' he managed.

'You fell off,' said Fabian Prewett. 'Must've been – what fifty feet?'

'We thought you'd died,' said Dorcas Meadows, who was shaking.

Peter made a small, squeaky noise. His eyes were extremely bloodshot.

'But the match,' said James. 'What happened? Who won?'

It was now that the faces of the team members broke into a grin. Marlene held up a Snitch, struggling in her hands.

'We won?' James felt a rush of relief.

'Yep,' said Kingsley Shacklebolt proudly. 'A hundred ninety to forty. We had to play our sub, mate. He didn't look so great either. Poor bloke was nervous; we thought he'd fall of his broom with fright. Marlene caught the Snitch just in time.'

Will clapped Marlene on the back proudly, and she flushed.

'Amazing…' was all James could say.

'Right,' said Gideon Prewett, getting to his feet. 'We'll leave you to rest now.'

The team trooped out, trailing mud behind them. Madam Lambridge shut the door behind them, looking disapproving. Sirius, Remus and Peter moved nearer to James's bed.

'So,' said Sirius grinning at James after awhile. 'Just out of curiosity… what were you doing just floating up there like an idiot?'

'Huh?' James ran a hand through his hair. 'Er – nothing. I was just, er, looking around, you know?'

'At Evans?'

James' head shot up. 'No!' he spluttered. 'No, I was just looking around at the Gryffindors… see who came and all…'

'Oh, please. Half the school saw you _gazing_ at Evans like a mindless dolt.'

Sirius' grin grew wider and now even Remus was smiling at him sympathetically.

James flushed. 'What are you lot talking about?'

'You like her!' said Sirius. 'Just admit it, you git.'

There was a silence as everyone looked at James intently. After awhile James shrugged casually.

'I don't know,' said James honestly. 'Maybe…'

'Hah!' Sirius got up triumphantly and pointed at Remus. 'Told you!'

Remus smiled at him and Peter looked a bit conflicted, unsure about whether he should appear amused or disgusted at this new turn of events.

There was a knock on the door. The assistant nurse Madam Pomfrey rushed to open it and in came Lily, Kalah and Alice. Sirius' grin, if possible, grew larger.

Lily looked as though she didn't know what she was doing there.

'Right,' said Sirius, eyes twinkling with apparent delight. 'We'll leave you lot alone now.'

'No,' said Lily quickly, before she shot Alice an annoyed glare. 'We're not staying.'

'We wanted to make sure you were fine, James,' said Alice softly, completely impervious to Lily's glare.

'All right, Potter?' asked Kalah with a jerk of her head toward his injuries.

James grinned at her. 'I'm alive, aren't I?'

'See, he's fine,' said Lily, sounding rushed and business-like. 'Can we go now?'

James smirked. 'Were you worried about me, Evans?' he asked smugly.

Lily regarded him and scoffed. 'Don't flatter yourself, Potter. I only came along because Alice made me. And now I think it's time to go.'

And she turned on her heel and strolled out of the hospital wing, the sounds of James and Sirius' laughter drowning out the slam of the door.

* * *

_Hogsmeade Trip_

_December 10_

_Please make sure you have submitted your form._

'Look!' squealed Lily, pointing excitedly at the sign. 'That's next week!'

'Oh, finally!' said Kalah, peering at the sign from a couch in the common room. 'I was wondering when they would finally have the first trip.'

It was a cold, December afternoon. Lily, Kalah and Alice had just come back after a trip to Hagrid's and were beginning their homework for the night. Lily collapsed onto the seat across from Alice.

'You handed in your form, didn't you, Kalah?' asked Lily.

'Of course I did,' replied Kalah, reaching into her bag and pulling out a blank parchment. 'You?'

'Uh-huh. I almost thought Professor McGonagall wouldn't accept it, she stared at it for a long while before taking it. My sister accidentally spilt tea onto it,' explained Lily.

'Peonies!' blurted Kalah.

'Petunia,' corrected Lily with a grin.

* * *

James woke up early on the morning of the tenth, the day of the first Hogsmeade trip. Both he and Sirius had plans to head straight to Zonko's Joke Shop; many of the upper year students had been talking about Zonko's as soon as the Hogsmeade poster had gone up, and the two wanted to know what the big deal was.

James, Sirius, Remus and Peter headed down to the Entrance Hall after breakfast, where Filch was standing inside the front doors. He was checking off names against a long list, peering suspiciously into every face and making sure that no one was sneaking out who shouldn't be going. James and Sirius walked right up to him.

'Hello there, Filch, old pal,' said Sirius brightly.

'How're you on this fine day?' asked James.

Filch gave them both a look of deep loathing.

'Oh, right,' continued Sirius. 'Checking off names, are you?'

'Just in case you don't know,' said James, 'my name's James Potter and this is Sirius Black. For the list, you know. I think you'd probably have us down as 'worthless scum'.'

'Or perhaps, 'bloody, good-for-nothing hooligans',' chimed Sirius.

'Just get out of my sight, you -' Filch was cut off by James' waggling index finger.

'Mind the language, Filchy. Why, in front of _innocent_ third-years!'

'_Very_ innocent third-years indeed,' added Sirius.

With one last wide grin at Filch, James and Sirius departed through the oak front doors, shortly accompanied by Remus and Peter.

* * *

Lily entered Hogsmeade with Kalah and Alice, eyes agog. The High Street was full of students scattering up and down, peeking into the shop windows and trading sweets together on the pavements. 'This is _amazing!_' she exclaimed.

'Where do you want to go?' asked Alice, looking down the street.

'_Everywhere_.'

Lily, Kalah and Alice browsed around almost all the shops in Hogsmeade: Dervish and Banges, the wizarding equipment shop, the Post Office, where about two hundred owls were sitting on shelves, colour-coded depending on how fast you wanted your letter to reach its destination, Honeydukes, which instantly became Lily's favourite sweetshop (they were giving out free samples today), Madam Puddifoot's, a pink little teashop and The Shrieking Shack, which was known to be haunted.

When it started to get cold, Alice led them to a warm pub called the Three Broomsticks.

James, Sirius, Remus and Peter all left Zonko's, carrying boxes in their hands.

'This is good stuff,' Sirius was saying, gazing at the boxes admiringly.

'I have to admit, the magic is quite clever,' said Remus appreciatively.

'Right, where do you want to go now?' asked James.

'Er… somewhere warm?'

James looked round to see Peter shivering in the cold, his fingers white and numb-looking. 'Forget your gloves, Pete?' he asked.

'I'm f-fine,' stuttered Peter.

James rolled his eyes and pulled out his wand. He tapped Peter's hands and muttered a spell; colour returned to Peter's hands.

'It's a Warming Charm,' said James, stowing his wand away again. 'It should last long enough to get back to Hogwarts.'

Peter smiled sheepishly. 'Thanks, James,' he said gratefully.

'No problem,' said James with a grin.

'Let's go to the Three Broomsticks.' said Sirius. 'I haven't had a butterbeer in ages.'

'You've tried it?' asked James incredulously.

'We've got some at home,' supplied Sirius.

They walked up the street and pushed the doors open to the Three Broomsticks. As soon as James made his way in, he felt Sirius grab his arm.

'Look who's here, James,' he said, grinning wickedly.

James followed Sirius' gaze and grinned involuntarily. Sitting at one corner of the inn was Lily, Kalah and Alice, shaking slightly with Gryffindor scarves wrapped around their necks and butterbeer bottles in their hands.

James had the sudden urge to leap onto his broomstick and start flying. But then he remembered that there were three problems associated with that. One, his broom was all the way at the castle, and James had yet to perfect a Summoning Charm. Two, he was fairly certain that the barmaid, Madam Rosmerta didn't allow brooms in her pub. And finally, James' first Quidditch match embarrassment was still fresh.

James debated in his head for awhile whether he should go over to her and say something - something witty... something charming.

As he was undergoing this mental war, Lily caught his eye from the other side of the pub. Having gotten the distinct impression of being watched, she had looked up to see Potter and his friends at the Three Broomsticks' entrance. Lily shrugged off Potter's odd gaze and stuck her tongue out at him before turning back to her friends.

James winced. Of course, that was to be expected. Ah, well. He probably deserved that after the prank he had played on Snape last week. With one more glance toward Lily, he followed Sirius to the front, where his best friend was gazing admiringly at the new barmaid, Madam Rosmerta.

James knew that the Christmas season was approaching when decorations began to appear in the Great Hall and common room. The teachers' became kinder and a lot more lenient toward James, Sirius, Remus and Peter's pranks. Another indication of the season approaching was Sirius' noticeably grumpy attitude toward everyone. Sirius, who was always the one making jokes and laughing, tended to become irritable when he had to return home.

However, this winter, Sirius was rather looking forward to the break. He had finally gotten his parents to allow him to stay over at the Potters' for the vacation and even James had cleared it with his parents, who were more than willing to have guests over. James had told his parents quite a lot about Sirius and his father seemed to find him rather amusing, though his mother looked somewhat grim when she heard about their antics together.

James and Sirius headed toward Hogsmeade station together, Sirius humming 'God Rest Ye, Merry Hippogriffs' as they walked. Remus' parents wanted him to stay at their home for Christmas because a full moon was to arrive during the winter break. And Peter was going to Australia with his family to visit relatives.

The four found a compartment in the train and waited for the train to start moving, waited for their Christmas break to finally begin…

* * *

'This is brilliant,' Sirius was saying as he followed James into his room after dinner.

'Sirius, you've been here for at least a week,' said James, flushing slightly. 'Besides, it's nothing like your place. I mean, _The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black_. Don't tell me that isn't brilliant.'

Sirius shrugged. 'It's big, but that's all. I always feel so stuffed in that house, especially with Mum and Dad and all their pureblood worshipping. And don't forget little Slytherin Reggie. You know, I bet that's the only reason Mum let me come here. She was so happy that Regulus was coming home and wanted to have some time alone with her favourite son,' added Sirius spitefully. 'I bet they're all having a nice chat about all the 'filthy' Muggleborns that go to Hogwarts. And the house elf. Merlin, one look at Kreacher and you want to bash his head in. Nothing like the house-elf you've got here, James. Ticky, was it?'

'Yeah,' replied James, collapsing onto his bed. 'She's a good elf, except she keeps calling me Master, even though I tell her to call me James. It's annoying, really. I told her I would stuff her in an oven the next time she called me that.'

'What did she say?'

'She said that she was used to death threats,' snorted James.

Sirius burst out laughing.

* * *

When Lily returned to Hogwarts a week later, the weather was cold. The snow was falling hard and students had to trudge through at least four feet of it to the castle before Professor Dumbledore had arrived to clear it all up.

Despite the large amount of schoolwork that the teachers of Hogwarts did not hesitate to assign, most Gryffindors were excited for the next Saturday to approach; this was to be the day of Gryffindor's second Quidditch match. This time, the team would be up against Slytherin's best, and naturally, due to Gryffindor and Slytherin's age old rivalry, many were eager to see the match.

James was particularly excited about the upcoming match, determined to redeem himself after the fiasco of his first match. When Saturday arrived, he woke early and lay for awhile, thinking about the coming Quidditch match, mentally preparing himself.

As eleven o'clock approached, the whole school started to make its way down to the Quidditch stadium. Snow was falling gently down upon the stadium. James bid farewell to his friends as he entered the locker rooms. The team pulled on their scarlet Gryffindor robes, and then sat down to listen to Will's usual pre-match pep talk.

'Slytherin's got better equipment than us,' he began. 'No point denying it, what with Malfoy's family being rich and all.' Lucius Malfoy was Slytherin's keeper. He had joined the team last year when his father had bought his entire team brand new broomsticks that even rivalled the brilliance of James'. 'They've got better brooms, but we've got better people on ours,' continued Will. 'We've trained harder than they have; we've been practicing every day since the break -' ('Too true,' muttered Gideon Prewett. 'I've got the bags under my eyes to prove it.') '- and we're not just going to win; we're going to bury them."

'Amen!' exclaimed Fabian. Will turned to Dorcas and James.

'You lot need to be in high gear. We need to show them that a Keeper has to have something more than a rich father. Score as much as you can and make sure Malfoy doesn't save any of them. We're going to win this one.'

James and Dorcas nodded uniformly.

'So no pressure, James,' said Fabian, winking at James, who was looking slightly more nervous than he did a while ago.

As they walked out onto the pitch, a roar of noise greeted them; mainly cheers, because Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were anxious to see Slytherin beaten, but the Slytherins in the crowd made their 'boos' and hisses heard too. Madam Knight, the Quidditch teacher, asked Will and the Slytherin captain Jack Travers to shake hands, which they did, giving each other threatening stares and gripping rather harder than was necessary. James found himself wincing as they crushed each others' fingers.

'And we're here at the second match of the year!' came Sirius' voice booming through the crowd's cheers. 'Ah, and not a bad turn-out, I see. Oh no, it's Evans! James, don't look at her! We don't want another run with the bludger, do we?

There was laughing coming from the stadium and Lily looked up, both in horror and in disbelief at what Black had said. She leered at him loathingly.

'Oooh, if looks could kill… Evans just gave me dagger eyes…'

James turned a deep shade of red and looked firmly to the ground, where he mounted his broom at Madam Knight's signal. This wasn't how he had expected to start the match.

'On my whistle,' said Madam Knight. 'Three… two… one…'

With a roar from the crowd to speed them upward, the fourteen players rose toward the cloudy sky.

'Gryffindor versus Slytherin; I'm sure the lot of you know which team's going to win… Associated with red and gold, if you catch my drift -'

'Shut up, Black!' There were hisses coming from the Slytherin stands and Sirius' head shot toward that direction immediately.

'Who said that?' he demanded threateningly. 'Which one of you slimy gits - who's thick enough to think gold's going to be able to beat skill -"

'BLACK!'

Sirius faltered and looked to his right. Where the seat next to him had been empty for quite some time now was now occupied by Professor McGonagall.

'Oh, hello there, Professor! I was wondering where you were at… Did you get held up at breakfast? You just couldn't stop yourself from getting seconds of the wizard waffles, could you? I know, I was the same way; that's why I've got more back in my dorm -'

'Black! The match!'

'Huh? Oh right. I forgot…' Sirius grinned sheepishly. 'Right. Er… it's Gryffindor in possession, Dorcas Meadowes of Gryffindor with the Quaffle, heading straight for the Slythering goal posts – brilliant, Dorcas! Argh, no – Quaffle intercepted by Walden Macnair, Macnair of Slytherin tearing up the field – WHAM! – Sweet! Excellent Bludger work there by Gideon Prewett, Macnair drops the Quaffle, thank Merlin, and it's caught by – Johnson, Gryffindor's back in possession, come on, Johnson – nice swerve around Crabbe – duck! Duck man, there's a Bludger! – HAH! YES! HE SCORES! TEN-ZERO TO GRYFFINDOR!'

Will punched the air as he soared around the end of the field; the sea of scarlet below was screaming in its delight.

'ARGH!'

Will was nearly thrown from his broom as Gary Goyle went smashing into him.

'Sorry!' said Goyle, as the crowd below booed. 'Sorry, it was an accident!'

A moment later, Fabian Prewett chucked his Beater's club at the back of Goyle's head. Goyle's nose smashed into the handle of his broom and began to bleed.

'Sorry!' said Fabian in mock concern. 'Sorry, it was an accident!'

The Slytherins started to hiss and boo, but Lily couldn't help laughing alongside the rest of the crowd as Goyle held a hand up to his nose in pain.

'Penalty shot to Slytherin for deliberate damage to their Chaser!' shrieked Madam Knight.

'What!?' roared Gideon. 'That's not fair! Look at Will!'

The crowd was roaring with disapproval, but Madam Knight was bent with her decision. The Slytherins were all gloating when one of their Chasers, Nott came forward to take the Slytherin penalty. Kingsley Shacklebolt was hovering in front of the Gryffindor goal posts, sweat dripping down his forehead and his eyes narrowed with determination.

Sirius' voice began to crack through the crowd's roars again. He had finally gotten his microphone returned to him; Professor McGonagall had confiscated it after the penalty was announced, due to the profanity he was yelling through it.

'Come on, Head Boy, show those dirty, cheating, low-life-'

'Black…'

'- little slime – oh – sorry professor… Come on, Shacklebolt… YES! I DON'T BELIEVE IT! HE'S SAVED IT!'

The Gryffindor crowd cheered and James zoomed forward and found himself with the Quaffle.

'Gryffindor in possession – nice pass to Meadowes – well done, James! Meadowes' streaking up the field – WHAT THE –!?'

'BLACK!'

'But Professor, that was bloody deliberate!'

Rookwood, a Slytherin Chaser, had swerved in front of Dorcas, and had grabbed her broom instead of the Quaffle, sending her flying. Dorcas managed to stay atop her broom, but dropped the Quaffle.

James looked down desperately toward Madam Knight, but she was in deep conversation with a student, Slytherin, by the colours of his robes, and seemed to not be paying much attention to the match.

James grinded his teeth together angrily. At this rate, they would lose the match. The Slytherins were resorting to every possible way of cheating and Madam Knight didn't seem to be noticing. James sought out Will in the mass of flying players. Will was hovering behind Rookwood, eyes tired while he watched Marlene rush to check whether Dorcas was alright. Fabian sent a Bludger toward Nott, who momentarily had the Quaffle in his possession. However, this proved futile as Slytherin's Beater Crabbe repelled it back in his direction.

The game was a complete disaster. Desperately, James inadvertently scanned the crowd. Bad idea. James spotted Lily in the crowd; intently watching the game with a furrow between her brows.

Averting his eyes quickly, James sought the Quaffle. Nott was still carrying it and had just gotten past Gideon. Gideon tumbled over as Nott ran into him.

That did it. James directed his broom toward Nott and zoomed forward. Nott turned his head slightly and smirked at James' sight. He dipped slightly, and James followed suit. The Beaters were starting to close in now. James' hands tightened over his Nimbus 1500's handle and he urged it forward a bit.

Having his broom move forward was exactly what Crabbe and Goyle were waiting for. They sped up toward James, who hovered there expectantly. At the last moment, when they were both a feet away from him on either side, James zoomed forward. He knew, even without looking back, that Crabbe and Goyle had crashed into each other and were plummeting toward the ground. James smirked. It was true. Crabbe and Goyle weren't exactly the brightest wizards at Hogwarts.

Nott's sneer, which had appeared when Crabbe and Goyle had begun to surround James, half-vanished, and he was beginning to notice his surroundings once again. He directed his broom up and this time, James did not follow. He remained low and headed toward the Gryffindor goal. Just as Nott began to descend toward the three hoops, James cut him off and circled him. Nott looked around desperately, and in a moment of weakness, had the Quaffle stolen from him.

James could barely hear the loud Gryffindor cheers and Sirius' wild commentary as he dashed across the pitch. Fabian appeared within his range, his bat held up high to protect him from any attacks.

It was like slow motion to him. James threw the Quaffle and watched as it came nearer and nearer to the middle hoop. Malfoy lunged forward. He was coming closer and closer to the Quaffle that was still in mid-air. His fingers stretched forward its tips touched the Quaffle's edges and…

'GRYFFINDOR SCORE! YEAH, JAMES!'

The loud roars from Gryffindor's were almost deafening. It took Marlene only a minute and a half longer to catch the Snitch and by then, all the Gryffindors were down on the field. James found himself hoisted up on Gideon and Fabian's shoulders and from the corner of his eye, saw a horrified Marlene attempt to remain on the ground as Will and Dorcas hoisted her up on top of theirs.

But James was searching for a familiar flash of red. Lily Evans was clapping, surrounded by her fellow Gryffindors; she caught his eye for a moment and James could have sworn, he could have_ sworn_, he saw her grin at him.


	6. Bertram Aubrey

_**Disclaimer**__: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended._

* * *

_**"One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other."**_

_**- Jane Austen**_

_**

* * *

**_

'Ah, Mr Potter!'

James whirled around to catch sight of Professor Slughorn joyfully waddling down the hallway toward him, a pile of papers in one hand and a fat briefcase in the other. 'We're missing lunch,' groaned Sirius under his breath.

'Er, hullo, Professor,' said James slowly, as soon as Slughorn was within earshot. 'Did you, er, want something?'

'James, my boy. How are you doing now?'

James and Sirius exchanged glances; Slughorn had never taken the time to speak to them before.

'I… er… am doing great, sir.'

'Very good, very good. I saw your Quidditch game last week, my boy. Excellent flying skills, I must say. Will was quite right to put you on the team for Gryffindor. Not that I'm taking sides or anything. You know, I would sooner root for my own house, Slytherin.'

'Right, sir, of course.'

'Anyway, I just popped along to give you this.'

Slughorn handed an envelope to James, who looked at it doubtfully.

'It's an invitation to a little end-of-the-year gathering I'm having. Thought it'd be fun to get a chance to see a few of my students off.'

'Ah…'

'I've invited a whole group of students, Gwenog Jones from Ravenclaw, Lucius Malfoy from Slytherin,' Sirius made a face, 'ah and you may invite another person with you. So if you'd like,' added Slughorn, with a wink, 'you can bring a lady friend along.'

And with that, Slughorn waddled away.

Sirius gave a loud bark of laughter as he watched Slughorn's silhouette disappear. 'You hear that, James? _Bring a lady friend along_. I'm thinking of a particular lady, one with dark red hair and bright green eyes? Ring a bell?' said Sirius teasingly.

'Oh, shut it,' snapped James, sounding irritated as he promptly shoved the invitation into his rucksack.

* * *

'Lily! Lily!'

Lily slowed her pace to allow Frank to catch up.

'Where - are - you - _rushing_ - to?' panted Frank, adjusting a strap on his rucksack as he carried it over one shoulder.

Lily shot him an apologetic grin. 'I promised Severus I'd study with him today.' She indicated down the hallway toward the Entrance Hall.

'Oh.'

'What's the matter?'

Frank paused miserably before he answered. 'Potions,' he groaned.

Lily scoffed. 'That's rubbish, Frank, you're doing fine in Potions.'

'Only because you help me with every assignment!'

'But you make the potions fine in class,' pointed out Lily, 'and Professor Slughorn likes you.' The last bit was not entirely true; Lily had only added that in for amusement.

Frank wasn't amused. 'Ha, ha, aren't you hilarious. He calls me _Pants_, Lily.'

Lily bit back a laugh. 'I'm sure Kalah and Marlene are really sorry for spreading that around?'

Frank rolled his eyes. 'Somehow, I doubt it.' Lily shot Frank another grin; he returned it reluctantly before asking, 'so d'you think I can borrow your Potions essay?'

Lily feigned shock and disbelief. 'And here, I just thought you just wanted some help understanding the material!'

Frank grinned cheekily. 'I do. And you can help me by lending me your essay.'

Lily laughed. 'I would, but Alice is borrowing it; she wanted to check some answers.'

Frank's mouth made an 'o' as he considered this. 'D'you think you can get it from her once she's done? I don't see her in any of my classes. In fact, I haven't spoken to either her or even Kalah in ages!'

Lily snorted. 'That's because you're always huddled up in the library, trying to catch up in one class or another.'

Frank looked scandalized. 'Well, not everyone can be Slughorn's-favourite, Potions-Mistress Lily Evans,' he shot back, looking dignified, 'some of us have to work for our grades!'

'Rubbish,' insisted Lily, a reluctant smile on her face.

They had reached the large, oak front doors now.

'Word's out that Slughorn's having a party.'

'Word's right,' said Lily. 'Slughorn likes his get-togethers,' she added, shaking her head and shooting Frank and exasperated look. 'I don't think he realizes that students don't find them fun.'

Frank laughed. 'Yeah, James isn't too thrilled about it either. He's begging Sirius to go with him just so he doesn't get bored.'

Lily paused. 'Ja - wait, Potter's coming?'

'Yeah, apparently Slughorn's impressed with his flying.'

Lily rolled her eyes. 'Of course.'

'Well, at least you won't be alone now,' said Frank, as though hit by an epiphany. 'Shall I tell James you need someone to go with? I'm sure he won't mind going with y - '

'No!' exclaimed Lily, so loud that the students lounging near the outer walls of the castle glanced over at them. 'Er - I mean, that's - I don't think Potter'd be interested, he'll want to take someone else - hey, Frank! Why don't you come with me instead!' asked Lily hastily.

Frank groaned. 'But if Slughorn's parties are as boring as you say, then - '

'They're not,' insisted Lily. 'They're lovely - fantastic, even. It's just that I've always gone alone. And I've already asked Kalah and Alice and Mary. Marlene's been invited too - her great uncle was once a member of the Chudley Cannons back in their winning days - but she's ditching, she told Professor Slughorn she's got a Charms club meeting. Plus, the others don't want to come - oh, please, Frank?'

'Oh, fine, fine, fine,' said Frank, throwing his hands up in defeat and sounding exasperated as he threw Lily a glance of submission. 'I'll come with you.'

Lily threw her hands in the air in celebration, grinning as they reached the edge of the lake where Severus was waiting, several textbooks propped awkwardly under his arm. 'Thanks, Frank! I'll be brilliant. Professor Slughorn's rather engaging once you get to know him, and perhaps we can get him to stop calling you Pants, hm?'

Frank only mumbled something darkly under his breath.

* * *

'Invite anyone for Sluggy's party yet, James?' asked a grinning Sirius as he, James, Remus and Peter headed back to their dormitories after supper that night.

'Oh, would you cut it out, Sirius,' said Remus, sounding both exasperated and annoyed; he slipped a small book out from his back pocket, flipped a page open and promptly began to read.

Sirius glanced back at him, his grin impish-looking. 'Oh, come on, Remus, aren't you the least bit interested in whom our dear friend, James, is taking to a party?'

'If I was such a dear friend,' muttered James, 'one of you would come with me instead, you prats.'

Sirius guffawed with laughter and swung an arm around James' shoulder. 'Ah, but perhaps, we, as your dear friends, wish for you to broaden your horizons - '

'- ask Evans -' interjected Peter.

'- meet people-'

'-ask Evans-'

'- and - er - yeah, ask Evans.'

James looked over at Sirius and Peter darkly; even Remus was smiling slightly and James knew it wasn't due to the hilarity of the book he was presently reading.

'I can't ask Evans, you gits - she'll say no.'

'So?' asked Sirius.

'So, I think I'll save myself the embarrassment, thanks.'

Sirius rolled his eyes and muttered to Peter something that sounded like, 'calls himself a Gryffindor'.

'James?'

A blond-haired girl James knew to be Heathcote Barbary had approached them as they walked through the Entrance Hall to their dormitories.

'Er - evening, Heathcote,' said James, looking rather startled because the two had never before conversed.

'I heard you were looking for someone to take to Slughorn's party,' said Heathcote bluntly. James glared at Sirius, whom in response, shrugged innocently.

Heathcote adjusted the end of her plait. 'I could come with you,' she offered.

James blinked. 'Would you? Yeah, that would be great,' he breathed. 'Since none of these prats want to come along,'

'Great,' said Heathcote, with a toothy grin.

Having initially believed that Heathcote had approached them to offer him her sympathies for his lack of finding an invitee, James felt considerably more cheerful as he headed to the Gryffindor Common Room that night.

The following week, James and Heathcote made their way up the marble staircase toward Slughorn's office. Heathcote, it seemed, was a lot more talkative than James remembered, and spent the walk to the party scene informing him about her little sister, Meg, who had just turned eleven and was coming to Hogwarts in September. Needless to say, James was rather relieved when they reached Slughorn's office.

As he entered the office, which appeared quite large indeed, he noticed that the ceilings and walls were draped with decorations that glowed in the light of the pixies floating high above them. There were streamers adorning the walls and translucent, glowing bubbles floating idly in the air. All through the room, students were lounging and conversing with each other, while eating small sandwiches and toffees from the silver platters carried by the house elves whom were running about.

James caught sight of Dirk Cresswell, Ambrosius Flume and Damocles Belby from Hufflepuff lazing about by the fireplace, toasting marshmallows as Flume told a particularly funny joke. At the other end, a seventh-year, Tiberus McLaggen, was asking a house elf for something stronger than a butterbeer. Momentarily, Lily was in the midst of a conversation with Slughorn, her green cloak shimmering in the pixie light. Beside her, looking rather awkward as he shuffled his feet several times and glanced longingly at the food table, was Frank Longbottom.

James started, his stomach jolting oddly at the sight of the two of them together.

'I remind you of whom?' Slughorn was saying, as he laughed merrily with a hand over his large belly. 'Santa Claws? Who is this fellow?'

Lily giggled in response. 'He's a man that Muggles believe to deliver presents on Christmas Day, sir.'

James decided to greet his friend.

'Oi! Frank!'

Frank, Lily and Slughorn turned their heads to the sound. Frank raised a hand in greeting, while Lily turned back to Slughorn, as though there was nothing particularly interesting to look at.

'James, my boy!' exclaimed Slughorn, opening his arms widely in greeting.

'Evening, Professor,' replied James, and Heathcote slipped away to grab a couple of butterbeers.

'Glad you came, James! Miss Evans,' he said, positioning himself so he was facing both of them. 'Did you see Mr Potter's Quidditch match? You've got a keen eye, you must be able to appreciate talent like that!'

James beamed expectantly at Lily, waiting for the praise that did not come. Lily began to cough violently, and James could have sworn he heard a 'yeah, right,' between each individual cough. Then, she straightened up, announced that she needed a cup of water and dashed off.

James raised an eyebrow at Frank, who shrugged in response, looking confused. Then, feeling more awkward in Lily's absence, he excused himself and darted away quickly.

'Well, well, James, I expect you're rather excited about your upcoming match?' asked Slughorn, as Frank departed. 'Gryffindor's in the final with Hufflepuff, I hear.'

'Yes, Professor,' answered James, failing to hide the pride that was seeping through his voice.

'Pity Slytherin lost the last match against Hufflepuff,' continued Slughorn, as though he hadn't even heard James talk. 'I'm sure my house would be your greatest challenge. Ah, well... There's always next year... Hm... What's that?'

And with that, Slughorn absent-mindedly waddled away.

'Toffee?' squeaked a house-elf, donning a large platter over her head.

'Thanks,' said James, taking a green toffee from the tray and popping it into his mouth. He had become rather fond of the colour green...

* * *

The next Saturday, James made his way to the Quidditch pitch early with Remus and Peter (Sirius had decided to sleep in for a bit: 'Damn it, James, it's a Saturday! I'll sleep as long as I bloody well feel like!')

By ten o'clock, both the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff teams had changed, and Sirius, who seemed to have managed to get out of bed, had taken his place at the podium, yawning as an irate Professor McGonagall watched him.

Madam Knight blew the whistle and the game began.

James soared through the air, relishing the feeling of flight on his broomstick. He had not been on his broom for a month, when Filch had confiscated it after what he had done in the trophy room. Instead, he'd had to settle for the awful, slow, Hogwarts brooms. It was because of this that he and Sirius had invested a load of intelligence, skill and perfect timing to retrieve (or steal) James' broom back.

The game began with Hufflepuff in possession of the Quaffle, but James stole it easily from Hufflepuff's Chaser and made the first goal of the game. He could hear the deafening screams of the Gryffindor fans, and looked down quickly to scan the audience.

'Gryffindors leading ten to nothing!' boomed Sirius' voice, and James' head snapped up again, as though Sirius were warning him to keep his attention toward the game

James urged his broom toward the center of the stadium and caught sight of Marlene, who was hovering in one place some feet above him looking slightly nervous. James smiled at her assuredly.

For the last few practices, Will had been giving them their instructions for this particular match. Marlene was to only catch the Snitch when Gryffindors were up by fourty points. Otherwise, it would result in a tie between Gryffindor and Slytherin, and as much as he wanted to crush Slytherin, James was quite eager to end the season and win the Quidditch Cup.

James caught the Quaffle again and passed it to Dorcas, who sent it through the middle hoop almost instantly.

The game continued like this, with Gryffindors scoring goals, and Hufflepuff scoring occasional goals as well.

'Gryffindors leading eighty to thirty!'

James looked up and searched for Marlene; her jaw was set and her eyes were focused, a sign that meant she was going to start looking for the Snitch.

Hufflepuff seemed to have sensed the urgency of the situation, because once Gryffindor was forty points ahead, Hufflepuff beaters were starting to target Gryffindor's Seeker, Marlene.

'Whoa, Hufflepuff Beater sends a Bludger to Sanders - bloody hell - there comes another one! Looks like Hufflepuff's going after the Gryffindor Seeker! You - nice, Prewett! Fabian Prewett retaliates the Bludger!'

Fabian and Gideon position themselves in front of Marlene, and knock aside two more Bludger attacks, leaving Marlene free to search for the Snitch. James takes the opportunity to steal the Quaffle from a Hufflepuff Chaser and parries it to Will, who does an impressive manoeuvre to dodge a rebounding Bludger and cleanly scores another goal.

'Gryffindor leading ninety to thirty! Sweet! Take that, you double-teaming –'

'Black!' came McGonagall's loud voice.

'Sorry, Professor… Oh, Gryffindor Seeker's sighted the Snitch! Hufflepuff Seeker's seen it too! Hufflepuff's got the edge with this one, he's closer - Oh! - beautiful Bludger rebound, there, Prewett, there goes Hufflepuff Seeker - perfect opening for Sanders - YES! Gryffindor Seeker's caught the Snitch! Gryffindor wins the cup!'

There was a roar from the crowd that almost drowned out the sound of the whistle that signalled the end of the game. James found himself trapped in the middle of a midair hug with the rest of the team and the Gryffindor crowd began to dance to the rhythm of the loud whooping that was magnified by the magic microphone in front of Sirius Black.

* * *

James' euphoria of his Quidditch match had not worn off that week, even with his upcoming exams. He was often found in the common room, giving the play-by-play of the Championship to anyone who would listen, and this was admittedly a large number of people, to Lily's utter annoyance.

Meanwhile, Kalah was stressing out as well; her sister, Neera, was to write her OWLs this year, and Kalah was appointed as her official study assistant. As if that weren't bad enough, when Kalah had refused the appointment, her sister had threatened to tell their parents about Kalah's secret ambition to join the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Their parents were aware of the dangers of Quidditch, and had already forbidden both daughters to even think about playing the sport.

'What are OWLs?' asked Lily.

'Ordinary Wizarding Levels,' explained Alice, crossing out a few lines from her Ancient Runes essay as the three of them worked by the light of the common room fire one night. 'They're examinations Hogwarts students take at fifth year. If you pass according to the professor's standards, you're allowed to take the NEWT classes.'

'What's NEWT?'

'Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests.'

'And I'm sure they are,' said Kalah grimly.

* * *

'Oi, Sirius, test me, would you?' asked Remus, tossing a Potions book to him as he sat on his bed. Sirius picked it up from his place on his own bed, looked at the cover and put it down quickly as though it burnt his hand.

'Ugh, it's a book!' he exclaimed.

Remus sighed. 'I realised that. Test me, alright?'

'I'd rather not,' said Sirius, a disgusted look on his face. 'I'm feeling nauseated already.'

'You weren't feeling nauseous when you were reading Animagi: Release the Animal In You,' pointed out Peter.

Sirius contemplated this. 'Yeah, well, that's different.'

'In what way?' inquired James.

Sirius didn't answer the question, but instead asked, 'have you lot finished reading that book anyway?'

'Yes,' said Remus shortly. In the absence of the Potions book he'd tossed to Sirius, he had already picked up his Charms textbook and was immediately immersed in its words.

'Me too,' said Sirius proudly. 'In fact, I've been done for a while. I was waiting for you lot to catch up.'

'Really?' asked James, genuinely shocked. 'I've already begun the practical part.'

'Me too,' said Remus, without looking up from his book. 'Or at least I've begun the minor procedures.'

Sirius looked shocked, and looked from James to Remus. 'What? Seriously?'

'Yep,' said James. 'Sirius-ly.'

'Har, har,' said Sirius. He looked at Peter. 'You too, Pete?'

'Yeah!' answered Peter, looking stunned that he was not last to complete a task.

'W-what?' sputtered Sirius. 'And none of you bothered to tell me?'

'Well, you didn't bother to tell us you were done either,' pointed out Peter.

'And we thought you knew,' said James, as he flopped down onto his bed.

'Yeah, right,' said Sirius indignantly. 'I'm sure you did. You lot only wanted to be ahead of me! That's it, isn't it? Betrayal?'

James snorted. 'Calm down, mate. You've got plenty of time to catch up in the summer.'

'Yeah, but still… I feel deceived!'

'Oh, by the way,' said James, completely ignoring Sirius' outburst. 'Mum said you could come over this Summer. So long as it's after August. We've got dinners lined up with different people from the Ministry all through July and Mum reckons she'd rather deal with one of us 'troublemaking rascals' rather than two while we've got guests over.' Sirius barked out with laughter. 'Plus, she reckons you should spend time with your family too, since you haven't even seen them during the Christmas break.'

Sirius snorted. 'Believe me, I wouldn't mind being without the family bonding this year.'

James laughed.

* * *

After classes finished for the year, after exams and after the end-of-the-year feast, James found himself on the Hogwarts Express. As he left the train, he grasped his trunk tightly in his hand and watched all the students leave; the train sped away and James couldn't help but feel a sense of sadness as it sped away.

Sirius, Remus and Peter had already been collected by their parents, and James was left surveying the platform before him, glancing round at any sign of his parents. James caught sight of a red flash of hair. He called out before his brain registered the identity of the person.

'Evans! Oi, Evans!'

Lily spun around, an expectant smile on her face. As soon as she saw him, however, her smile faded away.

'What, Potter?'

James dragged his trunk with him as he took a step forward.

'Have a good summer, yeah?'

Lily blinked, looking momentarily confused, as though she hadn't expected him to say that. But the moment passed and she finally spoke.

'Er… right… See you…'

She waved an awkward wave, one that was both reluctant and forced, before dashing off toward her parents, who were looking mildly amused at Lily's conversation, and a sulking Petunia.

* * *

It was a late July afternoon, and for once, Lily and Severus two had decided to take a break from the summer homework that the professors had piled on them; instead, they swung next to each other on the swings in the playground by Lily's house. Lily pushed herself off the ground toward the sky as she observed the clouds, thinking of Kalah. Kalah loved the clouds, and during the spring in Hogwarts, the she, Lily and Alice would spend their afternoons by the lake, lying on the grass and observing the various shapes the clouds made. Lily had invited Kalah over for the summer holidays, but the latter had vehemently refused—Kalah's parents were incredibly strict. They had rules regarding just about anything, and visiting friends was most certainly prohibited. Still, as Kalah had mentioned before, she had more freedom than her older sister, Neera, who had almost even been banned from attending Hogwarts altogether! Their parents had attended a different school of magic in the old country, one that was relatively nearby and one that did not require students to live on the school grounds.

Lily had fought with her older sister that morning, and in her upset state, had requested Severus to abandon his homework that day to lounge idly with her.

'Ugh, I can't stand her, Sev!' she raved. 'It's as though she wants me to hate her as much as she hates me!'

'Why do you talk to her, then?' asked Severus, wrinkling his nose in distaste. 'She's just a Mug–' he cut off at a look from Lily.

'She's my sister, Severus,' said Lily desperately. 'I don't want her to hate me.'

Severus didn't say anything for a while, but watched her carefully, as though he were reading a puzzle. ''She doesn't hate you,' he said quietly. 'How can she hate you? Everyone loves you.' He said the last bit in a slightly bitter tone, but Lily didn't seem to pick up on it.

Lily shook her head miserably. 'She doesn't like me because I can do magic,' she replied.

There was no response from Severus, and a blanket of silence fell over them for a while.

'Sev?'

'Yeah?'

'Why do you talk to Avery and Mulciber?' Lily screwed up her face in disgust as she said the names of both Slytherin classmates.

Severus didn't answer for a while. Then, he responded slowly with, 'They're in my House. They're my friends.'

'But, they're horrid!' exclaimed Lily. 'And they really upset Mary… They called her a,' Lily paused, lowering her voice before she uttered the curse word, 'Mudblood.'

Severus flinched visibly.

'How can you be friends with them?' persisted Lily.

'They're my friends,' said Severus firmly. 'And we're Slytherins.'

'Even so, Sev... It's not right.'

Severus did not have a reply for this.

'Right, I reckon they're asleep now.' James crept out of his bed and Sirius followed suit. It was an August night and the full moon was shining brightly in the sky.

Sirius stepped on a loose board in the floor and a loud _creak_ followed. James flinched and shot his best friend a glare.

'Shh!'

'Sorry!'

They made their way quietly downstairs and out the back door, where a silvery orb adorned the midst of a canvas of glittering stars. James and Sirius gazed up.

'Poor Remus,' muttered James. Sirius looked up as well.

'Yeah, I know…'

They made their way to the far edge of the yard, where a small, battered shed stood alone. James reached for the doorknob and pulled.

'No good, mate,' said Sirius, scratching his chin thoughtfully. 'She's enchanted it.'

'Bugger - and we can't do magic, either,' muttered James.

There was quiet for a moment, one during which both boys were evidently deep in thought. Then, Sirius' eyes lit up.

'I've got it!'

He reached into the depths of his pyjama pockets, through the various trinkets and wrappers that were always present in each of Sirius' pockets and pulled out a small silver penknife.

'What's that?' asked James curiously.

'It's a penknife,' explained Sirius excitedly. 'It carries enchantments to unlock any lock and undo any knot. And the best part's that the Ministry can't trace it, so we're not doing magic!'

James gawked at the little silver object. 'You had that all this time and you didn't tell me?' he accused.

Sirius shrugged. 'I thought you knew, mate,' he said, grinning madly as he mimicked the same line James had used when they were discussing each of their Animagi progresses. Sirius' eyes twinkled. 'Besides, I only nicked it out of my great-great-grandfather's room last month.'

He grinned and put the knife through the gap between where the door and its frame didn't quite meet; then, he ran it down swiftly. There was a small _click_ and door opened instantly.

James moved forward eagerly and peered inside the shed.

'Looking for this?'

Both James and Sirius' heads whipped round at the sound. There stood before them, with dark red hair at her shoulders and a night gown fastened at her waist, with her arms crossed and with James' Nimbus 1500 securely tucked at her elbows, a half-cross, half-amused Mrs. Potter.

James and Sirius looked at each other, both stunned and impressed. Then, as though they had planned it, they both turned to her, precisely at the same time, with sheepish grins plastered upon their faces.

'Why Mum, what a pleasant surprise…'

'Nice try.'

On the morning of September the first, Lily found herself at King's Cross station, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the new school year.

'You be sure to write, Lily,' said Mrs Evans, as she wrapped her daughter in a large bear hug.

'I will, Mum.'

'Even if it's by owl. I rather think I've gotten used to them, now.'

Mr. Evans gave a deep chuckle. 'You still scream when you see them,' he pointed out.

'But I don't run away,' said Mrs Evans firmly. 'That'll suffice.'

Lily laughed.

'Lily!'

Lily's head turned instinctively to the sound; Mary MacDonald was running toward her.

'Hi, Mary!'

'How was your summer?' panted Mary, as she turned and waved goodbye to her parents behind her.

Lily grinned. 'It was great. And yours?'

'Brilliant.' Mary flashed her perfect, white teeth in a grin. 'Are you ready to board yet, then?'

'Yeah, just about.'

Lily turned back to her parents.

'Bye, Mum. Bye Dad.' Mrs Evans gave Lily another hug and Mr Evans responded by rumpling Lily's hair. Finally, Lily turned to Petunia.

'Bye, Tuney…'

Petunia said nothing, but merely nodded her acknowledgement.

Taking a deep breath, Lily turned away, grasped her trunk tightly, and boarded the Hogwarts Express with Mary beside her, who was glancing back nervously at Petunia.

The first day of classes was spent with a double period in Transfiguration, a subject that was not necessarily a favourite of Peter's.

'You are now entering a most important phase of your magical education,' Professor McGonagall was saying, at the start of the class. 'Your Ordinary Wizarding Levels are approaching. In preparation, I will be assigning copious amounts of coursework and I expect you to keep up.'

'OWLS?' whispered Peter to James frantically. 'Bloody hell, I thought those were next year!'

'Some students will need to pick up their work from last year and put in more effort if they wish to achieve an OWL in this class,' continued McGonagall. 'Such students will benefit from paying attention in class instead of making complaints, Mr Pettigrew!'

Peter jumped and turned pink immediate, while James and Sirius sniggered from either side of him.

Professor Slughorn started the new year with his usual greeting.

'Welcome, fourth-years!' he exclaimed, as the fourth year Gryffindors and Slytherins streamed into the dungeon. 'Ah, good afternoon, Miss Evans…'

Slughorn took a low bow that looked somewhat awkward with his shape and size. Kalah, who followed Lily inside, attempted to hide a smile but failed miserably.

Once the class had been seated, Slughorn gestured to the table behind him.

'I thought I'd start off the year by introducing some Potion ingredients. We'll be using some of these ingredients throughout the year, so it's best to familiarize ourselves with them.'

Slughorn made his way to the furthest end of the table.

'Anyone know what this is?' he asked, picking up a ball of slimy, greyish-green seed weed-looking substance. 'Ah, but Miss Evans does!' he exclaimed before Lily had even gotten her hand up.

'It's Gillyweed, Professor,' said Lily brightly.

'Right you are! Take ten points for Gryffindor! Gillyweed is used as a material to help one breathe underwater.'

Slughorn moved over to the next item on the table. He picked it up, revealing to the class a shrivelled up rock.

'And this?'

Several people put their hands up this time.

'Go ahead, Mr Potter,' said Slughorn.

'It's a Bezoar,' said James, smirking, 'It's an antidote for all sorts of poisons.'

'Excellent! Ten more points to Gryffindor!'

And so, Slughorn, continued down the table, pointing to various ingredients and challenging the class of each of its name and purpose, the result of which gave Gryffindor an additional thirty points and Slytherin an additional fourty-five.

'And finally,' said Slughorn, moving to a cauldron at a corner of the room. 'We won't be using it this year, but I thought it'd interest you anyway. Who knows what this is?'

Slughorn carried the small cauldron to the middle of the room, and James could see it clearly. It was a potion with a gleaming surface; steam was rising from it in spirals at a three-beat rhythm that started to engrave itself into James' head.

But there was something else about the potion that caught James' attention. A scent was wafting through the room - a wonderful scent of vanilla and lilies that suddenly filled the air. James sensed a familiarity about it, but was unable to place the scent.

'Well? Any guesses?' asked Slughorn.

'It's Amortentia,' came Lily's voice, cracking slightly. James' eyes snapped up to look at her. 'It's… the strongest love potion in the world. It has a scent that's different for each of us, depending on what attracts us,' continued Lily; there was a pink tinge on either of her cheeks and she was looking firmly at the ground.

James almost choked on his breath at this new information. He glanced about the room, where students were leaning in for a closer sniff, and Sirius next to him was breathing deeply with his eyes closed and a great, stupid grin on his face.

'Quidditch tryouts are this Saturday,' said James to Sirius after lunch, as they strolled along the corridor that lead to Potions.

'I know, mate,' responded Sirius wearily. 'You've told me that about a million times already.' Sirius paused at the edge of a wall between two portraits and crouched to fix the laces on his trainers.

'You reckon I'll still be on the team?' asked James, looking down at Sirius.

'Oh, come off it,' scoffed Sirius. 'You know very well you're still on the team.' He stood up and stretched widely.

James grinned. 'Well, in any case, we'll need new Beaters. Arthur Weasley and Prewett brothers have left Hogwarts.'

'Oh, right, I've forgotten about that,' said Sirius, bringing his arms down slowly. Then, in the silence, there was a sudden giggle. Sirius whipped round toward the portrait-covered wall, his eyes wide and his mouth in a perfect, comical 'o'.

'What the -'

The pear in the portrait of the fruit bowl was giggling. James and Sirius exchanged bewildered glances. Then, the portrait swung open.

'Hello, sirs! What may Kimmy get you?'

And then, in the course of ten seconds, the bewildered gazes became stupid grins, as James and Sirius realised that they've accidentally discovered the location of Hogwarts' kitchens.

'Kalah's thinking about trying out for the Quidditch team,' said Lily to Severus, as they had breakfast together one morning.

Severus made a face. 'Quidditch? What a waste of time.'

Lily shrugged, a furrow appearing between her eyebrows. 'I think it's a brilliant sport,' she said. 'I mean, considering that I'm a Muggle-born. Compared to the sports I've grown up watching and playing, Quidditch is a lot more interesting.'

'But Potter plays on the team,' spat Severus, cringing with disgust as he said the name.

Lily shrugged. 'Yes, so? Of course he's a prat, but you've got to admit, Sev, he plays well… Marlene's also on Gryffindor's team and perhaps Kalah will be too now. I think it's brilliant.'

Severus paused thoughtfully as he watched Lily, wondering whether he ought to try out for the Quidditch team as well.

'What are you doing here, Snape?' asked a Marissa Higgs, in her shrill voice. 'You do realise these are Quidditch tryouts!'

Severus went pale. 'I know,' he muttered. 'I thought I'd – I thought I'd try out…'

There was a jeering coming from the crowd, which succeeding in making Severus paler.

Avery patted him on the back encouragingly. 'What position are you trying out for, mate?' he asked.

'Chaser,' mumbled Severus, insisting to himself that this was not because of James Potter.

Travers, who had become the Slytherin team's new captain, approached Severus, a short clipboard in one hand and wand in the other.

'Right,' he said, surveying Severus. 'Let's see you fly, then.'

There was a laugh from the stands. Severus did not turn to discover its origin. Many of his peers have seen him fly before, or at least seen his unsuccessful attempt at flying back in first year.

But Severus was determined for success this time. He took the broom in Avery's hand and held it in front of him.

But something was wrong. The broom jerked out of his hand and started to vibrate. Severus looked around and saw that many of the Slytherins were laughing – at him. It was clear that he was rather unpopular, even among his fellow House members.

Snape attempted to mount the bucking broomstick and tried to block out the sound of the girl with the shrill voice laughing at him…

'Right,' said Will Johnson, surveying the crowd before him, 'now, we just need two Beaters and we're set.'

James grinned as he joined Will to face the crowd of hopefuls. After a short trial, he and the others from last year were asked to remain on the team. James panned the crowd and recognized a familiar face, grinning broadly.

'Sirius!'

Sirius raised his broom in greeting. He was attempting to try out for the team that year.

None of the first five applicants, James noticed, had the talent of Gideon and Fabian Prewett. Will had decided to hold the Beater try-outs in pairs, having the applicants pair off and take flight, parrying a Bludger between them.

James cheered as he saw Sirius whack a Bludger at his partner, Caradoc Dearborn, who had to later be carried away to the Hospital Wing.

After choosing a few finalists, Will called upon the last two applicants.

'Tia Richards and Kalah Ramnath.'

There was a particularly loud and isolated cheering coming from one corner of the stands where James noticed two Gryffindor girls in his year cheering madly. Lily and Alice seemed rather oblivious to the odd glances they were receiving.

There was a loud cheering coming from the stands which James noticed to have originated from three sources: Lily, Alice and Mary.

Will blinked twice, examining the names on his clipboard. In his experience, girls did not try out for the position of Beater. All the same, he gave a jerk of the head, as though urging the girls to begin their trial. Tia Richards was a rather small fifth year and group of her friends around her wished her well as she mounted her broom next to Kalah: 'Good luck, Titchy!' James caught Sirius' eye and grinned; the two of them prepared themselves for what was going to be an amusing trial.

But it did not come. To everyone's astonishment, the two managed to do rather well. A stunned James noted that they seemed to work well with each other, and Sirius groaned miserably beside him. When both Tia and Kalah had finished their trial, Lily and her friends were not the only ones cheering; the rest of the crowd had joined them.

Will turned to his Beater finalists and told them that he had found his two Beaters.

This did not go over too well.

'They were going easy on each other!' complained a tall, broad-shouldered boy James guessed was in sixth year. 'They're not even strong enough!'

Tia, who seemed to be performing back flips on her still afloat broomstick to the cheers of her particularly shrill-voiced friends, spun round sharply at the comment, brandishing her new Beaters' bat.

'They went easy on each other!'

Will scoffed. 'You prat, that's the point. What d'you expect, for the Beaters to kill each other? They work well together and that's why I picked them.'

Behind, him, both Kalah and Titchy had raised their brooms over their head and were performing a ridiculously amusing, albeit gloating dance.

James clapped a hand over Sirius' back. 'Bad luck, mate.'

Sirius looked stunned for a moment, but then shrugged, as though he had already forgotten about the ordeal. 'I just needed something to do. Besides, like commentary better.' He held up an invisible microphone. 'What's this? Yes, you've seen it, folks! Slytherin Captain Travers has crashed into dung _again_!'

James laughed.

'Get out of my way or I'll hex you!'

Will was now holding out his wand and pointing it at the crowd of rejected Beaters who looked as they were going to attack him.

They backed away instantly.

* * *

'Welcome to the first Quidditch match of the season!' boomed Sirius' voice throughout the Quidditch stadium. 'Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw!'

Lily cheered excitedly as both Quidditch teams flew out onto the pitch, soaring through the air in a wide circle. Each member of the Gryffindor team zoomed past her: Johnson, Meadowes, Potter ('ugh…'), Kalah ('woo!'), Titchy…

A loud whistle blew from Madam Knight and then the game started.

'Excellent! James Potter with the Quaffle already,' boomed Sirius' voice, magnified by the magical microphone. 'He dodges a Bludger attack by – what's his name again? Darn, I forget – any ideas, Professor?'

Lily fought back a smile as she glanced up at the podium at a frustrated Professor McGonagall, who was glaring at Sirius.

'It's Corner, Black, and you'd better start learning these names if you want to continue in this position –'

'Right, right… sorry, Professor.' He turned his attention back to the game. 'Right… Ravenclaw Chaser gets a hold of the Quaffle and – OUCH – that's got to hurt. Nice attack, Ramnath – though I still say I should've been made Beater instead.'

Lily cheered as she saw Kalah turn round and grin at Sirius, holding up her bat in a gesture to suggest she was about to throw it at him.

'OK, OK, I'm sorry,' came his reply through the microphone. 'James has the Quaffle again – he's headed for the goal – oh, bugger, is that a Bludger – watch out, James – oh, SWEET – nice deflection, Titchy –!'

'Black!'

'What, Professor?' exclaimed Sirius defensively. 'It's a nickname! - Whoa, yes, nice, Johnson! Gryffindor leading ten to zero!'

The game continued until the score was fourty to thirty for Ravenclaw. Dorcas Meadowes had been knocked off her broom at one point when she had tried to reach for the Quaffle, though there was no lasting damage done.

Finally, when another half hour had passed, Marlene succeeded in catching the Snitch. The Gryffindor Quidditch team was huddled on the midst of the pitch and the usual after-game crowd had gathered. James called to his teammates through the loud cheering.

'Oi! Ramnath! Richards!' Two heads whipped round to look at him. 'Good game, you lot! You played well!'

'Cheers!' called Titchy immediately, a broad infectious grin spread across her face.

Kalah cracked her own grin as someone passed around celebratory toffees. 'Good game, Potter! You didn't play so bad yourself!'

* * *

'Oof – ouch –!'

Lily collapsed to the ground after bumping into someone. Rubbing her head gingerly, she gazed up.

'Sorry, I –'

Lily cut off, transfixed. She was looking at what could only be one of the Greek gods Lily had read about back in Muggle school. He had golden blond hair and deep blue eyes and had an apologetic grin on his face.

'No, no,' he insisted. 'It was my fault. I should've watched where I was going.'

He bent down and in one swift motion, picked up the books that had fallen out of Lily's hands, and then held out his own hand to help her up.

Lily did not take her eyes off him for a minute.

'I'm Bertram Aubrey,' said the golden-haired boy. 'Hufflepuff.'

'L-Lily Evans… Gryffindor.'

Bertram smiled at her, flashing his white teeth, which somehow seemed to make Lily melt…

* * *

'Lily! Oi, Lily, can you hear me?'

'Huh? What?'

She turned to a frustrated Kalah.

'I've been trying to get your attention for five minutes now, that's what!'

'Oh… sorry, I was just –'

'Busy ogling at Aubrey?' interjected Kalah.

Lily blushed a deep crimson that seemed to match the shade of her hair. 'No, I -'

'Come on, we have Transfiguration,' said Kalah, grinning impishly.

As Kalah dragged Lily through the crowd, all Lily could see was the smile of Bertram Aubrey.

* * *

'So, Sirius,' said James, as they ate an early breakfast at the far end of the almost-empty Gryffindor table. 'Have you finally started the practical yet?'

'Of course!' said Sirius, in a mock dignified voice.

Peter laughed. 'Did you pick an animal yet?' he asked.

'I still say a pig's perfect for you,' added James. Remus smiled at the remark.

'No,' scoffed Sirius. 'If you must know, I've chosen to be a black dog.'

'A dog?' asked Remus. 'Why's that?'

'Well, see, when we were doing Astronomy last year, I noticed that there's a constellation called Sirius.'

James snorted. 'Seriously?'

'Sirius-ly,' said Sirius, effectively making Remus roll his eyes. 'And the constellation's a black dog. Plus, with my last name being Black, I've decided to settle for a black dog. Perfect, eh?'

James didn't speak for a bit as he thought this through. 'Yeah, that could come in handy,' he said finally. 'We're going to need big animals to control this one's furry little problem,' he added, jerking a thumb toward Remus.

Remus shot James a look that was both annoyed and bored; this was only met by a cheeky grin.

'What about you, Pete?' asked Sirius. Peter began to cough violently.

'He's going to be a rat,' announced James, with a broad grin on his face. 'Isn't it brilliant?'

Sirius burst out laughing. 'A _rat_?'

'Oi!' said Peter indignantly. 'James said we'd need a small animal!'

'Yeah,' agreed James, looking rather insulted himself. 'Someone's got to,' he lowered his voice and glanced about the Great Hall, where only about six students in total were having breakfast early that morning, 'prod that knot to freeze the Whomping Willow, you know. We can't always use twigs.'

'Yeah, OK. But still… a rat? Oi, what about _you_, James? What's your animal?'

James straightened up in a proud gesture. 'I've chosen a stag,' he announced in a deep voice.

There was a moment of silence. Then everyone burst out in laughter.

'W-what? What's wrong with that?' sputtered James.

'A stag?' choked Sirius.

'Yeah, a stag!' said James defiantly.

Even Remus was laughing.

'James, you're supposed to choose an animal that's like you,' he said between fits of laughter.

James turned red. 'Yeah, I know! I'm completely stag-like! You know, majestic and all that stuff!'

Sirius, who, for a moment, appeared as though he were about to stop laughing, burst to another fit of hilarity.

'Yeah, well, just see,' said James in a dignified voice. 'My transformation will be a lot better than anything you lot come up with.'

Sirius clapped a shaky hand over James' back. 'Sure, James, sure.'

* * *

James slowly clicked the Fat Lady's portrait shut behind him as he sneaked back into the Gryffindor Common Room. He had taken an excursion outside his dormitory that night with the help of his Invisibility Cloak. James decided that, to improve his Animagi, and to ensure that his would be the best, he had to practice daily… or nightly.

He turned from the door, and headed for his dormitory, but halfway to the foot of the staircase, he froze.

Curled up on the one-seat couch near the fireplace, fast-asleep, was Lily Evans. James took a deep breath. How long had she been there?

_You__'__re invisible_, he told himself. _She can't see you. And she's asleep. She doesn't know you're here._

Unconsciously, as though he were checking whether or not she was actually asleep, James took a step toward her.

This, it seemed, was a rather big mistake. As soon as his foot hit the ground, a large _creak_ followed. Lily's eyes snapped open.

James took a sharp intake of breath.

Lily sat up quickly and looked around her. James stayed completely still.

_Come on,_ he prayed frantically. _You imagined the sound. It wasn't real. Go back to sleep. _

Lily seemed to believe she imagined the sound, because she leaned back on the couch again.

Cheering inwardly, James turned carefully and made to go the opposite direction.

CREAK.

James cringed and Lily sat up again. This time, she was quite sure she hadn't imagined the sound.

'W-Who's there?' she demanded into the darkness.

No response.

'Who's there,' she repeated, a bit firmer now.

Still no response.

James clutched his Invisibility Cloak tight around him, hoping with all his might that it still worked. It was moments like these that make him doubt the power of the Cloak.

Lily pulled out her wand slowly.

'I know someone's there,' she said loudly, glancing up at the girls' dormitories and hoping that someone would possibly hear her. Perhaps it was because she'd read so much about this You-Know-Who all through the Daily Prophet this week, but Lily found herself feeling rather paranoid around sudden noises, as though she were going to be attacked by _You-Know-Who_ any minute (Lily felt rather silly calling a grown man by the name of `You-Know-Who`, but Kalah and Alice had refused to tell her what his _real_ name was. Mary had attempted to spell it before Marlene told her that she`d read somewhere that writing the name was a curse on its own - this had Mary scratching out her attempt furiously enough times that she snapped her quill in the process).

'You'd better show yourself!` insisted Lily, sounding braver than she felt`, `– or – or I'll start throwing jinxes at random. I know some good ones, I swear –!'

'OK, OK, don't attack!'

Lily blinked, stunned. She paused for a moment, and then called out.

'P-Potter?'

'Yeah.'

'Where are you? How come I can't see you?'

There was a loud sigh, and then Potter appeared, a mere few feet in front of her.

'Ahh –!'

Lily fell out of her chair, startled.

'Shh! Someone'll hear you!'

'Potter! How did you –!' hissed Lily.

'With this.'

And he thrust in front of her a shining, silvery cloth. Lily gasped and crawled forward to take it from his hands.

'This… this is an _Invisibility Cloak_,' she whispered, running it through her fingers. James stuffed his hands into his pockets as he watched her.

'Yeah, it is,' he replied, shuffling his feet.

Lily gaped at James disbelievingly.

'But they're - they're really rare. Where'd you get this?'

James shrugged. 'My dad gave it to me,' he said quietly. 'It's been in our family for a long time.'

'Wow…'

She examined it again, running it through her fingers once more.

'Er… Evans?'

'Hmm?'

'Can I… er… have it back?'

Lily's eyes snapped up to his face again.

'Oh… er… yeah,' she said, her voice suddenly business-like. 'Here.'

'Er… Evans?' said James, as Lily got up.

'What now?'

'Don't tell, okay?'

'Don't tell what?'

'That I have this. And that I was out.'

Lily glanced at the cloak again and her eyes narrowed. 'What were you doing out so late, anyway? Curfew passed a long time ago.'

'I was hungry,' James lied easily. 'I was going to the kitchen.'

Lily rolled her eyes.

'So, er… don't tell okay?' asked James, looking slightly nervous.

'Yeah, fine, whatever,' said Lily, picking up her book from the couch she had been sitting on. 'I'm going to bed,' she said, yawning.

James caught sight of the title of the book she was reading before she made her way up to the stairs to her dormitory.

'Good night,' he called after her.

'Hmm…'

James grinned, stowed his Invisibility Cloak into his robes and made his way up to his own dormitory.

* * *

'Lily? Lily!'

'Hm?'

Kalah and Alice exchanged knowing glances. 'Care to tell us about whom you were daydreaming?' said Alice, always in her grammatically structured phrases.

Lily blinked and turned to her. The three of them were lounging in their dormitories before on a late November night.

'Oh… er…'

'Perhaps a certain blond named… I don't know… Bertram Aubrey?' asked Kalah, eyes twinkling.

Lily blushed a deep crimson. Alice looked from Lily to Kalah.

'Aubrey?' repeated Alice.

'A bloke in Hufflepuff,' said Kalah airily.

'Oh, right! Aubrey, huh… hold on, isn't he in fifth year?' pondered Alice.

'Is he really?' asked Lily, intrigued by this new information.

'Yes, he is. D'you like him, then?'

Lily, who had not been expecting such a direct question, shrugged indifferently. 'I don't know,' she answered honestly. 'He seems nice is all - in the few times I've spoken to him at breakfast.'

'Just nice?' asked Kalah, wiggling her eyebrows in her suggestive sing-song voice.

Lily promptly threw a pillow at her.

* * *

'What's L.E.'

James jumped, hastily shoving his parchment out of sight. But it was too late. Sirius had appeared beside him, grinning mockingly.

'N-Nothing,' said James quickly, getting up.

Sirius put a hand to his chin thoughtfully. 'Hm… 'L.E'… whatever could that _possibly_ mean? I am utterly befuddled. What do you think, Remus?'

Remus wore an expression of mock confusion.

'L.E. eh? I haven't a clue… Absolutely no clue at all. Peter?'

'Peter scratched his chin in the same mock attitude. 'Well, it could stand for those lemon éclairs Dumbledore likes so much...'

'Oi...' said James, his voice low and threatening.

'- or -' interjected Sirius, 'or perhaps it stands for Leonard Edwardson from Slytherin! I knew I saw James eyeing that big bloke a couple of times during Potions!'

Remus and Peter burst into laughter.

'Or-' began Remus.

'Shut up, you lot, you know perfectly well what it stands for,' said James, a pink tinge on either of his cheeks despite the defiant expression on his face.

'Oh!' exclaimed Peter, slapping a hand to his forehead in understanding. 'Or it could stand for Lily Evans! After all, James has fancied her only since first yea -'

'No, I haven't!' exclaimed James indignantly.

'What are you talking about, James?' cut in Sirius. 'Of course you liked Evans since first year. It only took you until last year to actually tell us.'

James opened his mouth to retort, but then shut it again.

'How's your Animagus coming along?' asked Remus quickly, effectively changing the subject. Sirius and Peter grinned to each other at James' lack of denial.

'Really well, actually,' said James, his eyes brightening as he spoke. 'I can transform a bit, but just the hooves. I've got a feeling that the antlers are going to be tricky, though… ah, well… I'll have time to work on it during the Christmas break.'

Remus nodded approvingly. 'Now if only you lot would spend as much time and effort writing your History of Magic essays,' he said.

Sirius snorted.

* * *

'Look! There's Aubrey!'

'Where?' Lily spun around immediately but saw no golden hair, no entrancing blue eyes, no perfect, pearly teeth

Kalah burst into laughter. 'I'm kidding!' she said, between bursts of laughter as she wiped the mirth from her eyes. 'Aha, you should have seen the look on your face, Lily, it was so - OW - what was _that_ for?'

'That was not funny,' said Lily in a dignified voice.

The large oak doors opened at that moment, sending a large, cold breeze into the castle.

'Hagrid!'

Hagrid blinked and his large face broke into a grin.

'Ah, look who it is!'

Hagrid was carrying an extremely large pine tree, no doubt meant for the coming Christmas season.

'How have you been Hagrid?' asked Lily, falling into step beside him. 'It's been so long since we spoke with you!'

'Yeah, well I've been righ' busy. Importan' stuff fer Dumbledore, yeh know. And yeh three never visit me in me hut no more,' said Hagrid. 'Yeh can hardly blame me fer not seeing yeh, can yeh?'

'I'm so sorry, Hagrid!' apologised Lily immediately, 'you see, we haven't had -'

Hagrid gave a deep chuckle.

'I'm jus' kiddin', Lily! Don't worry abou' it.'

'Are you going anywhere for the break, Hagrid?' asked Kalah.

Hagrid shook his great head. 'Nah. I don' need to go nowhere. Wha' does a person like me need to go places fer? I'm perfectly happy here at Hogwarts.'

'On the bright side, Hagrid,' said Lily, 'Potter and his friends probably won't be around for the break; you can hope for a quiet Christmas at least.'

Hagrid chuckled. 'Yeh're right,' he said, his eyes twinkling as he looked down at them. 'They tol' me the other day. That'll be easier fer me, eh?'

Lily wrinkled her nose, and the scowl that was usually reserved for whenever Potter's name came up, appeared. After all, she still hadn't forgotten about the dung bomb that Potter had let out right in front of the Slytherins' Defence Against the Dark Arts class just as Severus was entering the classroom.

* * *

Some few, short weeks later, the end of first term arrived, and Lily's fascination with the Hufflepuff, Bertram Aubrey, had not dissipated. The two had not come very far along since their first meeting, and the most Lily had spoken to Bertram was their short but frequent conversations in the library. After this sort of friendly interaction, Lily found herself in the library more often, half studying and half staring at the bookshelf opposite to her where the Care of Magical Creatures books were glaring back at her. It wasn't until the last day before the holidays did the conversation Lily was looking forward to most, take place.

'Oi, Lily!'

Lily recognized the voice immediately and turned around, grinning broadly in greeting. Aubrey ran to catch up with her, so that they were both now standing near the large oak doors at the Entrance Hall.

'Hi, Bertram!' said Lily, smiling at him.

'Hi, Lily!' he responded, flashing her with his white-teethed smile again. 'Er… I just wanted to… er, wish you a Happy Christmas.'

Lily's smile fell a fraction of a centimetre, but she returned the greeting all the same. 'Happy Christmas!'

There was an awkward silence that followed, one Lily took as an indication of the end of the conversation. As a result, she began to turn and walk away.

'Wait! Lily!'

Bertram caught up to her quickly and cleared his throat.

'Lily – er – I was wondering… if, after the break - if you'd maybe – I dunno – go to Hogsmeade with me or something –'

'Yes!'

'– I suppose I really – what?'

'Yes, I'll go with you, Bertram.'

Bertram's face cracked into a grin. 'Really? That's great! So – so I'll see you then?'

'Yeah, I'll see you.'

Bertram hurried off then, leaving Lily feeling light-headed through the entire train ride home; she was even able withstand without complaint, Kalah and Alice's constant nudges and sly grins.

* * *

'So _this_ is the _Noble and Most Ancient House of Black_, eh?'

James looked around at the inside of the mansion; it was large, with old-fashioned gas lamps along the walls, portraits hung neatly along the walls and a brilliant chandelier, shaped like a serpent, hanging above the stairs. The floor was shiny and waxed, and a grand circular stair case led upstairs, with old-fashioned banisters that must have been made from the most expensive of wood.

'Yep, this is it,' said Sirius, holding out his arms in a grand gesture

This time, for Christmas holidays, it was James that was visiting Sirius; incidentally, it was his first visit to his best mate's home.

'Come on, let's go up to my room,' said Sirius. 'Before we run into my mum and have to listen to her ramblings. You've got no idea how hard it was to get the woman to agree letting you, Peter and Remus come over. Asked about a million questions about all your lot's family tree.'

Sirius rolled his eyes.

'Are Remus and Peter here already?' asked James.

'Yeah, we are,' said Remus, from the top of the nearest staircase.

James peered up and greened at the faces of Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew.

'Oi, Sirius!' called Peter, several floors up and gazing down at them with a sloppy grin, through the circular gap in the middle of the spiral staircase. 'I think I found your room. And your brother's too. It's got the words 'Do Not Enter' plastered all over the door!'

Sirius made a face. 'That's Reg all right,' he muttered. 'He's gotten snobby in his old age.'

James snorted with laughter.

* * *

Lily's elation did not go unnoticed at home.

'Who's Bertram Aubrey?' sneered Petunia, sneaking up on Lily at her desk.

Lily jumped and attempted to hide her sheet of paper. But it was too late; Petunia was standing behind her with a raised eyebrow expectantly.

'Who's Aubrey?' she repeated. 'One of _your_ sort?'

Lily's face turned into a deep shade of red.

'Is he your _boyfriend_?'

Lily's turned redder, if that were possible. 'He asked me to Hogsmeade with him is all,' she muttered.

Petunia burst into a fit of giggles. 'Who, _Bertram Aubrey_? That's a funny name,' she said critically.

Lily paused, considering this. 'Perhaps, but he's also real nice and smart and –'

'– Yeah, yeah… blah, blah, blah… And I expect he's a freak, as well?'

Lily blinked, stung.

'Yeah,' she said quietly. 'He's a freak, just like me. But that's OK because I like him anyway! Besides, it doesn't matter what you think.'

Petunia stood there looking stunned at Lily's sudden outburst. Then, deciding that she had nothing more to say, she turned on her heel and stormed out.

* * *

Quite soon, the Christmas break had finished and the news had spread like wildfire – that Lily Evans was going out with Bertram Aubrey.

'Oooh, Aubrey?' exclaimed an excited Claudia Crawford, who was in Ravenclaw. She caught Lily in the Great Hall during every meal. 'He's rather fit! And a fifth year too!'

Lily, on the other hand, who had never had a boyfriend before, didn't quite know what to do with herself. Marlene had suggested she ought to start behaving like a proper girlfriend and Alice insisted that Lily should take more care in dressing herself, much like the models in her favourite magazine, Witch Weekly.

Apart from those who were buzzing excitedly about the news of Lily Evans' new boyfriend was James. Sirius, Remus and Peter found him in the most rotten of moods the days following the announcement.

'What's so great about Aubrey, anyway?' said James moodily one day in the Common Room while the four of them worked on their Potions essay.

Sirius considered the matter.

'Well, I suppose he's older…'

James' left eye twitched. 'He's only in fifth year! That's only one year!'

'OK, OK, don't bite my head off…'

'I reckon it's because he's smart,' said Remus thoughtfully. 'Top in all his classes, you know.'

Another twitch. 'I'm smart!' exclaimed James, puncturing a hole on his parchment with his quill. 'I'm top in... most classes!' James could not forget the disaster that was last term's History of Magic exam.

Sirius grinned at him. 'Looks like someone's been attacked by the green-eyed troll…'

'What's that?' asked James.

'It means you're jealous,' said Remus matter-of-factly.

'I'm not jealous!' said James hotly. 'I merely want to know what Evans sees in that Aubrey bloke.'

'Maybe it's because he's good-looking,' suggested Peter. 'He's got shiny blond hair and clear blue eyes.'

They all stared at him.

* * *

The next week meant the next visit to Hogsmeade for elder students. Lily, who was both nervous and excited, was looking forward to the trip more so than her friends; that day would be her first date with Bertram Aubrey.

Lily spent that morning telling Kalah and Alice about the events of the previous night as Alice rummaged through her trunk for something nice for Lily to wear.

'Last night I told Severus about my date with Bertram,' said Lily as she picked up one article of clothing after another that Alice was tossing onto the floor in her mad search for something worthy of Witch Weekly.

Alice paused in her hunt and Kalah stopped making faces at the ridiculously dressed witch on the cover of the issue of Witch Weekly that was currently on Alice's bed.

'... And...?' asked Kalah slowly.

Lily hesitated. 'I think he's worried about me.'

'What makes you say that?' asked Alice, in her soft, delicate voice.

'He was a bit upset,' replied Lily. 'I'm not sure he likes Bertram very much. And I'm not quite sure why.'

Kalah and Alice exchanged glances.

'I think he's trying to protect me,' continued Lily tentatively, pacing about. 'He doesn't want me to get hurt...'

'Perhaps...' echoed Kalah, throwing Alice a meaningful glance. After the last year, during which she and Alice had attempted fruitlessly to inform Lily of Severus' obsession toward her, and had received only laughter of denial in return, the two had decided to leave the matter alone.

'I found something,' chimed Alice, holding up a simple, green V-neck sweater and a pair of dark blue jeans. 'Honestly, Lily,' she continued, shaking her head at the clothes in her hands. 'You've got to update your wardrobe.'

Kalah commenced imitating the poses of the witch in the magazine cover in front of her; a feat that had Lily in peals of laughter.

* * *

'Oi, Lily!'

Aubrey was waiting in the Entrance Hall when Lily arrived.

'Morning, Bertram!'

'Shall we go, then?' asked Bertram, glancing about the Entrance Hall, where students were lining up to leave.

'Oh – yes…'

They joined the queue of people being signed out by Filch. Lily caught sight of Potter and Black, giving Filch trouble as usual, and looked away pointedly.

Out on the grounds, the weather was warm and a fresh breeze was blowing from the lake. Bertram had commenced telling Lily about his family. He was the youngest and his brothers and sisters had already graduated Hogwarts. During the summer, they'd play Quidditch on their backyard.

'Do _you _play Quidditch?' asked Lily.

'Ah, no,' said Bertram, shaking his head. 'It's a dangerous sport, that Quidditch. And I try to stay away from anything that risks my health.'

Lily nodded slowly. 'I see...'

They were entering Hogsmeade, where the High Street was full of students hustling and bustling about.

'So… where d'you want to go?' asked Aubrey, tossing her a casual glance.

'Oh – I don't mind, really.'

'Er - how about the Three Broomsticks?'

Lily grinned. 'Sure; I discovered Butterbeer this year and now I can't stay away,' she said, laughing.

Bertram made a face. 'Butterbeer? Oh, Lily, don't you know how unhealthy that stuff is? The sugar content and fat and – sweet Merlin, it's enough to cause a heart attack, it is!'

Lily frowned. 'Er, Bertram – well, it's not that bad. I've had it loads of times. Kalah, Alice and I have bought a whole stock that we keep in our dormitory – we don't come to Hogsmeade often enough –'

'Well, then, no wonder you're looking rounder!'

Lily raised an eyebrow. 'Excuse me?'

'I – never mind – I'm sorry, who am I to suggest what you should have?' said Bertram, as they both entered The Three Broomsticks. 'Butterbeer's a lovely choice of drink, Lily. Though, I think it'll be some nice, old water for me. I try to stay away from anything that –'

'-risks your health,' finished Lily, unenthusiastically.

Bertram chuckled lightly and pointed at her with his index finger and thumb extended in an 'L'. 'You got it,' he said, flicking his hand upward and winking.

After about fifteen minutes, once Bertram had finished his water and Lily had grown tired of watching Bertram throw disappointed glance after disappointed glance at her sipping Butterbeer, Bertram paid for the drinks and the two prepared to depart.

'I've got to go to the loo,' said Lily, tossing a glance behind her shoulder at Bertram. 'I'll see you outside, yeah?'

Bertram pulled out his L-shaped hand again, and flicked it in her direction and winking once more. 'You got it.'

Lily paused awkwardly. 'Right…' she muttered, before rushing toward the loo.

A voice called him as soon as Bertram stepped outside the Three Broomsticks.

'Oi, Aubrey!'

Bertrum spun round to catch sight of James and Sirius approaching him.

'Potter,' said Bertram, looking rather surprised to see the two of them.

'Aubrey,' said James curtly, with a bit of a swagger.

'How are y – '

'We heard you're going out with Evans,' interjected Sirius.

Aubrey blinked, and glanced at James.

'You heard right,' he said, his voice light and conversational.

James' left eye twitched.

'Yeah, well, we don't think that's such great news,' said Sirius, still grinning pleasantly.

Aubrey's eyes narrowed. He quickly glanced behind him at the Three Broomsticks, where Lily was still nowhere in sight.

'And why may I ask is this?' asked Aubrey, a frown slowly forming itself on his face.

James and Sirius pretended to consider this.

'Well… we just don't,' said Sirius simply after awhile.

'That's too bad.'

'It is,' agreed James.

'So we came up with an idea,' said Sirius. 'James here's going to duel you. And should he win, you're going to break up with Evans.'

Bertram looked bewildered. 'Duel! Why, that's absurd! I assure you, Black, I do not duel. I try to stay away with anything that risks my health! In any case, why would I break up with Lily?'

'Because that's the terms of the duel,' said James lazily.

'Listen here, Potter,' said Bertram. 'I've been hearing some rather disturbing rumours around Hogwarts. About your fancying Lily. And let me tell you something! Just because you're on the Quidditch team doesn't give you any right to –'

'Are you going to duel James or not?' asked Sirius impatiently.

'Of course not!'

'Fine,' said James coldly. 'Then we'll just settle with a hex.'

Bertram's eyes went round as he fumbled for his wand. But he was too slow. James and Sirius had whipped out their own wands and before Aubrey could blink, there was a loud _bang_.

'Potter!'

The door to the Three Broomsticks swung open and Lily came dashing out. Her eyes darted to James and Sirius, who were grinning maliciously, then to Bertram, who was knelt and bent forward on the ground of Hogsmeade, clutching his head frantically.

'P-Potter, what did you do!' she exclaimed, gaping as Bertram's head began to swell up.

James and Sirius straightened quickly and deposited their wands into his robes at precisely the same time with extremely convincing innocent looks on their faces; James ran a hand through his hair slowly.

'All right, Evans?' said James, casually stuffing his hands into the pockets of his robes.

'How d'you like your date now, Evans?' asked Sirius, contradicting his innocent-looking face as he wiggled his eyebrows up and down in delight.

But Lily wasn't listening. Her eyes were fixed upon Bertram, round with fear as his head continued to swell, until it was double its original size. Sirius had taken a step back and was admiring the effect with an amused and appreciative gaze, murmuring, 'brilliant', over and over again.

Lily rushed to Bertram's side, horrified, as a loud, authoritative voice called.

'Potter! Black!'

James jumped and turned round slowly to find an irate Professor McGonagall marching towards them in top speed.

James turned back to Aubrey, who was looking up at him fearfully now, and Lily, who was glaring at him as though she had never seen anything so vile; behind him, he could hear Sirius' voice welcoming Professor McGonagall.

'Ah, Professor! What a wonderful surpri–'

'_Double detention_!'

* * *

'What a ridiculous day,' said Lily, as she collapsed onto her bed that night.

'That bad?' asked Alice conversationally.

'Is he a prat?' asked Kalah excitedly.

'Yes, Potter's a prat,' said Lily, sounding annoyed.

'Potter?' asked Marlene, as she emerged from the loo and trekked toward her bed. 'I thought you went out with Bertram Aubrey.'

'I did,' said Lily, sounding tired. 'And he was… tolerable. But our date got cut off by a visit from Potter and his idiot mate, Black.'

'What'd they do?' asked Kalah.

'They hexed Bertram!' exclaimed Lily, sitting up and waving her arms hysterically. 'And I don't understand why, he's done nothing wrong!' She fell back on her bed again. 'And that's why they're prats.'

'That sounds like them, all right,' echoed Kalah.

'What did Bertram do?' asked Alice.

Lily sat up again, and on her face was a look of utmost annoyance.

'He broke up with me.'

Marlene's jaw dropped immediately. 'Did he really? Why?'

'He said he didn't think we were very much suited.'

Kalah laughed. 'I bet it was more that he got scared of Potter and Black.'

'Isn't he a fifth year?' asked Alice.

'Yes, Alice, he is,' replied Lily.

'Surely he can hold his own in a duel?'

'Ah, I'm not so sure… After all, Bertram Aubrey tries to stay away from anything that risks his health.'

The news that James Potter and Sirius Black hexed Bertram Aubrey had spread throughout the school within a number of short hours. Everyone had their own version of the story, the most popular being that James Potter had hexed the two-timing Bertram Aubrey in his utmost passion for Lily. Needless to say, Lily was quick to deny this.

* * *

'Ow –'

'Something the matter, Miss Evans?' asked McGonagall, in the middle of a double period of Transfiguration.

'No, Professor,' muttered Lily, sinking slightly in her seat as her face turned red.

She glanced down at the parchment that had been thrown unceremoniously at her head moments earlier. Sighing deeply, she turned in her seat to catch glimpse of a grinning James Potter.

Lily crumpled up the parchment immediately, and a disappointed sigh issued from behind her, no doubt from Potter.

Moments later, another parchment arrived; this time, cleanly landing on her desk. Lily stared at it in annoyance for a few moments before rolling her eyes and opening it this time.

_- Pst! Evans! I have a question for you. - JP._

Lily scowled, picked up her quill and began to scribble furiously.

_- And I have a request for you, prat: leave me alone! – LE._

Lily waited until Professor McGonagall turned back toward the blackboard, before whipping around and violently hurling the crumpled parchment at Potter's head. He looked stunned for a moment, until he spotted the ball of parchment that had bounced off his head and landed on the floor next to his chair. He shot a fleeting glance at Lily, who had whipped back around in her seat and was giving McGonagall her undivided attention, and then his face broke into an impish grin.

A minute later, another parchment landed cleanly on Lily's desk. Lily opened it with another scowl.

_- Touchy, touchy, Evans. What`s the matter, Aubrey got you upset or something?_

Lily replied again with a furious quill.

_- You're a rotten, vile prat, you know that, Potter? You had _no_ right hurting Bertram. No right at all._

_- Would it help if I apologized?_

_- No, it would not help, you git! Because of you and Black, Bertram broke up with me._

A loud laugh originated from several seats behind Lily and she scribbled furiously again, glaring at her parchment.

_- You think it's funny do you, my misfortune?_

Potter stopped laughing immediately; Lily supposed this was because Professor McGonagall was staring at him sternly. The reply came quick.

_- No, no. Blimey, Evans, I wasn't laughing at _you_. It's just – I can't believe we scared the wanker off! And Aubrey's a fifth year, isn't he? Don't you find that the least bit amusing?_

_- No, I don't._

There was a bit of a pause before Potter's inevitable reply.

_- Well, alright... Back to my question, then. What are you doing this Saturday?_

_- Why?_

_- I'm having a bit of trouble with the Charms assignment due next week. I was hoping we could get together and you could help me with it?_

This time, Lily burst into laughter, earning a glare from Professor McGonagall.

_- Here's your answer, Potter: no, no, and no._

_- Aw, why not?_

_- I believe one of your best mates is brilliant at Charms; I'm sure Remus'll be thrilled to help you. _

_- But Remus is busy helping Sirius with _his _assignment! Besides, you're better at Charms than anybody in our year!_

_- Ask McGonagall._

_- Don't be like that, Evans. If it helps any, I'm sorry I hexed Aubrey._

_- It doesn't help._

_- Well, I tried. So how about that study __dat__ session?_

_- Evans?_

_- Oh, come on, quit ignoring me._

_- Wait, why are you putting your hand up? You can't possibly have a question about the material!_

'Professor McGonagall?'

Professor McGonagall turned to Lily from the blackboard. 'Yes, Miss Evans?'

'Potter seems to be hurling balls of parchment at me, Professor. It's rather uncomfortable.'

McGonagall glanced from Lily to James, to Lily, and then back to James. 'Detention, Potter.'

James put his head on his desk, groaning loudly. Sirius sniggered from beside him.

* * *

'What's that?'

James sat up straight on his bed, folding his hands onto his lap neatly and blinking at Sirius innocently. 'What's what?'

'That,' said Sirius, glancing at James' pillow pointedly as Remus and Peter entered the boys' dormitory behind him.

'Nothing,' said James.

'Another L.E.?' asked Peter. 'Not another L.E.'

'It's not an L.E.,' said James hotly.

'Then what, pray tell, are you hiding under your pillow?' asked Sirius.

'I'm not hiding anything!' insisted James, leaning back on his bed, so that his back was leaning over his pillow.

'Yes, you are,' maintained Sirius.

'You're delusional.'

'I am no –'

'Sirius, just leave him alone,' said Remus, rolling his eyes and taking a seat on his own bed, situated to the left of James'. But Sirius and Peter maintained their position next to James on his right, hovering suspiciously. 'If it were important, he'd tell us.'

Sirius huffed, but turned all the same, making to collapse on his own bed, to the right of James'.

'By the way, James,' said Remus suddenly, pulling out a book – Animagi: Release the Animal In You – and flipping it open to a page. 'I want you to look at something.' Remus flipped through a few pages before leaning forward and holding the book open for James.

'What is it?' James leaned toward Remus, holding his arm out.

'Just that – quick, Pete, check his pillow!'

'Wha –?' James sat up and whipped his head round quickly, leaning back over his pillow instinctively. But it was too late. In his distraction, Peter had already whipped his hand under James' pillow and had pulled out a short, thick book. Sirius had jumped up, grinning like a Cheshire cat and Remus made it around James' bed and to the other two in an amazingly quick speed that James just stared, lost for words. Sirius, Remus and Peter huddled around the book that James had guarded so carefully.

'_Pride and Prejudice_,' read Sirius slowly. '_by Jane Austen_.' He looked up and James inquisitively. 'What is this?'

James sighed, running a hand through his hair in distraction. 'A book,' he said simply.

'We know that,' said Sirius, sounding annoyed now. 'But why are you hiding this particular book?'

'Isn't this –' Remus took the book from Peter's hands and began to inspect it. 'Isn't this a Muggle book?'

'A Muggle book?' exclaimed Peter, his eyes going round.

'Yeah, so what?' said James defiantly. 'It's just a book I saw Evans reading a while ago!'

'Did you steal it from her?' asked Remus quietly.

James scoffed. 'Of course not. I ordered it from – well, I forget where it's from – there's a Muggle book shop somewhere in –'

But Sirius, Remus and Peter had already started laughing at him.

'This –' panted Peter, between fits of laughter, 'this is funnier than that time Bertha Jorkins caught Sirius snogging Florence Finnigan!'


	7. Animagus

**_Disclaimer_**_: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended._

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* * *

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**_"Nobody minds having what is too good for them."_**

**_- Jane Austen_**

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* * *

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James learned the hard way that Transfiguring himself was a lot harder than Transfiguring a teacup in class. Since having begun the practical bit of his training, he'd managed to give himself a pair of hooves and one antler; the antler having taken him two months to master. The other antler, very much like the first one, was rather difficult, and seemed to refuse to grow from his head as it should. Compared to this, Transfiguration in class was simplicity itself. James and Sirius found themselves top in their class, much to the dismay of one Lily Evans.

Every night, James would leave his dormitory to practice his Animagus transformation. He and Sirius had managed to find an old room on the seventh floor of the castle when they visited the kitchens at midnight and were evading detection by Filch. The room was located opposite to the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy getting clubbed by a number of trolls. Oddly enough, when they passed by the general area of the room the next day, to take their shortcut back to Gryffindor Tower, the door had mysteriously disappeared.

It wasn't until a couple of weeks later that James realized what this room was. He had been searching for a place to practice Animagi, pacing along the seventh floor, when the door popped up in the hallway. It looked exactly like the door to that old room in which he and Sirius had once hid. However, when James wrenched it open, he found that it led to a larger space, filled with books and a couch and a table of food that never seemed to go bad. It was intriguing, this room. It seemed to change every day. When James needed to go to the bathroom and couldn't leave simply because Filch was patrolling the seventh floor, a small bathroom popped up. This room was shifting to James' every demand.

James didn't tell anyone – not even Sirius. He learned that it was called the Room of Requirement (the inside of the entrance became branded with the words as soon as he 'needed' to know what the room was called. To James, it was an advantage. A way to best Sirius and Peter in his transformation – because they'd all laughed at him, after all.

Though his original plan was to keep the Room of Requirement a secret until the rest of the year, by which James was sure he'd have mastered his stag, he wound up informing his friends of it much sooner.

He'd been practicing on himself at two in the morning, attempting to force out a second antler from the right side of his face. The procedure was a complicated one; in order to become Animagus, one would have to transfigure each body part separately and then undergo a process to disconnect the transfiguration from the spell, enabling the transformation's wandless nature.

'Animagus,' demanded James into the space of the Room of Requirement. 'Come on – Animagus – ugh, nothing –' James sighed, collapsing onto the sofa behind him. James glanced around him, wishing the Room was able to give him the power of Animagus transformation. James flipped through his book furiously, searching for anything he'd missed, anything. Perhaps there was an instruction he'd forgotten, a helpful hint of some kind.

Nothing.

'Bloody – hell –' sputtered James, jabbing his wand in the air forcefully with each word, 'Animagus, Animagus, Animagus, Animagus, ANIMAGUS!'

The cracking sound that followed James' misused incantation was immediate, instantaneous and grave. Rather than doing nothing, as the spell had the first twenty times James had used it, there was a flash of blue light. And then James was yelling with pain.

'Augh – wha – urgh –' James dropped his wand immediately and clutched his with both hands, dropping to knees suddenly. When he lifted his head up and looked down at his hands, they were covered in blood. There was blood everywhere – dripping from his hands and onto the floor, trickling down his cheek.

James looked round him in panic, surveyed the mass of thick, red liquid. He was beginning to feel faint as he lifted his right hand and touched the spot on his head from where the blood was originating.

It was as though the spell had half-worked. There was a small fragment of a blood-covered antler emerging from his head, and the surrounding area was made up of dying skin that seemed to have been completely punctured in order to allow the antler to arise. The antler had cut through his scalp in order to make its appearance, when it should have been able to phase through it without causing damage.

The book had warned him of the consequences of attempting the spell without full, undivided attention.

James grabbed his wand hastily, aware of the fact that he was going to pass out very soon.

_Medical supplies_. _Medical supplies!_ He thought frantically, searching the room. A first-aid kit was in the far corner of the room and James wasn't sure if he would be able to make it that far. And he wouldn't know how to close the wound in his skull anyway.

But Remus might. James clutched a hand over the wound to stop any further bleeding and stumbled over to the door. He'd have to get to Gryffindor tower and ask Remus to help him. He couldn't go to Madam Lambridge. There would be too many questions; how would he have gotten half an antler lodged to his head? And he didn't have enough time to hide the evidence; the Animagi book was as clear as day in his hands, and bloodstained, no doubt. No, going to the hospital wing was out of the question.

But James wasn't sure he'd be able to make it to Gryffindor tower either. He reached the door, a trail of blood following him, and shoved against it with all his might. It slammed open and James stumbled forward, his head literally beginning to split apart. He hadn't gotten very far before he collapsed onto the floor. His vision was beginning to cloud and black spots began to appear everywhere. James' wand slipped out of his hand and he began to blink slowly, feeling numbness around his temples. There were footsteps approaching, slow footsteps.

_Please... Please... _

James groaned, trying to shift his head to catch a glimpse of the visitor.

_Please_, he thought weakly_. Please... don't be Filch..._

'James? James, what are you – JAMES!'

The slow footsteps became rapid ones and James let out a slow, laboured breath. 'Sirius... thank... thank Merlin...'

'James –' Sirius got to his knees and put one of James' arms around his shoulder, so as to help him up. 'What happened, mate? Bloody hell, you're bleeding – James!'

'Sirius...' The last thing James saw before he passed out was his blood-covered wand on the floor, lying next to Sirius's foot.

* * *

It was incredibly lucky that Remus had learned by heart the section in the Animagi book called 'Healing: Fix your Blunders'.

'What were you thinking, you sod!' exclaimed Sirius, as early as four in the morning, as he, James and Remus crowded inside the locked bathroom of their dormitory. James had just come to.

James fingered the bandage on his head sluggishly. 'Thanks, Remus,' he mumbled.

'Bloody hell, James, answer me!'

'Shut up, Sirius,' input Remus' reproachful tone of voice. 'Frank and Peter are sleeping in the dormitory.'

'Remus, I found him on the floor in a pool of blood!' hissed Sirius furiously. 'There was half an antler sticking out of his head that obviously hacked its way through!'

'I know, Sirius,' said Remus calmly. 'But yelling is going to accomplish nothing but wake up our dorm mates. And James,' added Remus. 'Don't thank me just yet. That wound isn't fully healed. I only managed to get rid of the antler. You should be able to see Madam Lambridge without having to answer any odd questions. And you should hurry; it won't be long before the cut reopens.'

'He's not going anywhere until he finishes explaining what the hell he was doing around the castle practicing his Animagi during the middle of the bloody night!'

James sighed. 'Sorry,' he mumbled.

'Sorry?' Sirius whispered; his voice was low and deadly. 'You're sorry? What do you think would have happened if I hadn't found you when I did? If I hadn't woken up and realised that you were out of bed?'

'Well then, I don't think we would be having this conversation right now,' joked James.

'James...' muttered Remus, his voice disapproving.

'That's right,' said Sirius, 'make jokes. You've just nearly escaped death and you're joking. You bloody prat...'

James suppressed the comment he was about to say: "Well, you're half right… I'm bloody, all right…"

* * *

James wasn't allowed to leave his dormitory alone at night anymore. They'd decided on a decree (James was overruled in the voting) that dictated that if one of them were to leave the dormitory in the dead of night to practice dangerous, illegal magic, they'd have to be accompanied by another.

As a result, Sirius went with James every night, and the two of them practiced in the safety of the Room of Requirement, with a small wall that separated the room into two distinct chambers; James was still keen on having the best Animagus between Sirius, Peter and himself.

On one of these nights, after their nightly practices and during the random escapades they took inside the castle walls afterward, James and Sirius discovered an odd mirror.

It was located in an unused classroom on the left of a narrow corridor near the kitchens. Desks and chairs were piled up against the walls and there was an upturned wastepaper basket. It was the item propped up against the wall facing them however, which had caught their attention.

James and Sirius gazed bewilderedly at each other at first discovery. How had they missed it? Had the corridor always been present? In front of them was a magnificent mirror, as high as the ceiling, with an ornate gold frame, standing on two clawed feet. There was an inscription carved around the top: _Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi_.

'What is that gibberish?' wondered Sirius out loud.

James took a slow, instinctive step toward the mirror.

'What the –!'

James whirled around, his breath catching in his throat. But no one was there. Sirius glanced sideways at him oddly.

'What's wrong?' he asked.

'I – I just saw –'

James turned back toward the mirror and gasped again. He looked over his shoulder – still, no one was there.

'What?' asked Sirius, beginning to sound annoyed. James ignored him, turning back to the mirror.

A girl was standing before him; dark red hair, bright green eyes. Beaming at him from through the mirror was Lily Evans.

'James!'

James blinked and turned to Sirius hastily.

'Quick, what do you see?' he asked, stepped aside to allow Sirius a place in front of the mirror. Sirius edged forward, and took a glance into the large glass. A moment later, blinked hard.

'Well?' prompted James, running his hand through his hair slowly and turning slightly pink.

'Blimey, this isn't a mirror, is it!' asked Sirius, looking bemused and cocking an eyebrow.

'No, doesn't look like it,' replied James. 'What do you see?'

'My family,' said Sirius, still appearing astounded.

James blinked, glancing behind his shoulder again. 'What?' he asked sharply. 'Are you sure? You don't see Ev – er – I mean, are you sure?'

'Yeah!' said Sirius, with a grin now. 'They're all Gryffindor's though... Bloody hell, is mum smiling...!' Sirius trailed off, gazing into the mirror in wonder.

James examined the inscription running across the top of the mirror, working through the letters and words backwards: _I show not your face, but your heart`s desire_.

There was a loud shuffling outside the room and they both jumped. James whipped out his Invisibility Cloak and wrapped it around Sirius and himself, preparing to head back to their dormitory without being caught.

* * *

The end-of-the-term feast took place among decorations of scarlet and gold; Gryffindor House, thanks to its spectacular performance at the Quidditch Cup, had won the House championship that year. Consequently, the Gryffindor table was the noisiest of the lot, and the rowdy celebration only diminished as Professor Dumbledore stood to discuss with the students of the latest deaths announced in the Daily Prophet.

'As you have been made aware this morning,' began Dumbledore. 'There are four more unfortunate names added to our growing list of unfortunate victims of Lord Voldemort: Jo Weatherby, Shaista Hall, Jimmy Callahan and Amy Cinder. Let us take a moment of silence to pay respects to those who have been victimized by Lord Voldemort's wrath.

There was a quiet sob emitting from the end of the Gryffindor table; Lily couldn't forget Shawna Hall's tear-struck face throughout her entire journey back home on the Hogwart's Express.

On the train, Marlene and Kalah were in the midst of a spirited debate about Who-Know-Who and what he calls his followers; Marlene was advocating 'Death Eaters', while Kalah was almost certain they were called 'Death Sneakers'.

'If they were called Death Eaters,' reasoned Kalah, 'that would suggest they – er – well, eat death. Wouldn't that make them dead too? I'm sure You-Know-Who's minions would rather make themselves sound much more powerful than that.'

'Oh, and I suppose naming themselves after a morbid pair of running shoes gives them that sense of superiority?' countered Marlene, with a grin.

'Of course not,' countered Kalah. 'Death Sneakers. They sneak around killing people. It's quite simple, really.'

Lily remained silent throughout the debate. She learned about You-Know-Who in her first year, when Claudia Crawford's great cousin was found murdered in his bed; the article had caused a great sensation among the first years, especially the Muggleborns, whose parents had sheltered them from the growing dangers in the wizarding World. After their first Defence of the Dark Arts class, Lily realized Severus hadn't been entirely truthful when he told her that blood status at Hogwarts was irrelevant. The deaths that Dumbledore had announced at their end-of-the-year feast, was of relatives of known Muggleborns. Lily felt suddenly targeted.

It was only when Mary pulled out her Exploding Snap cards, when the witch came along with her trolly of sweets, that Lily put You-Know-Who and Muggleborns out of her mind and thought forward to her summer vacation at home.

* * *

'James! Come down here!'

James crumpled up his scrap of parchment and tossed it hastily toward the wastebasket near the window. After putting down his quill and closing up his ink bottle quickly, he headed downstairs towards his mother's voice at the front of the house.

'I didn't do it,' he said automatically, putting both hands up defensively before his mother could yell at him.

But his mother didn't appear as though she were going to yell. Next to her was one of her favourite visitors, and the delighted grin was plain on her face.

'Always with the guilty tone of voice, eh, Potter?' said Sirius Black in his gruff voice as he smirked amusedly at his best mate.

* * *

'Peter's coming next week,' said Sirius, as he sat himself down onto the chair by James' desk. James kicked the door closed as he followed with a plate of biscuits his mother had sent up.

'Yeah?' he said. 'I didn't even know you were coming this Summer!'

Sirius grinned. 'Surprise, mate. I thought we could help Pete a bit with his Animagus given that –' Sirius gave a dramatic pause before adding, 'I've perfected my own.'

James appeared stunned momentarily, which only seemed to make Sirius even more pleased with himself.

'That's right,' continued Sirius proudly. 'I told you I'd perfect it first.'

James blinked. 'Who said you were first?'

Sirius' smug grin slid from his face. 'Er – you've –'

James nodded slowly; his and Sirius' stunned expressions mirrored each other until they both shouted, at precisely the same time, 'You go first!'

* * *

Lily was brushing her hair on a late August morning when her mother called for her.

'Lily! Tuney's back!'

Lily paused, coking an eyebrow. Surely that was her sister, who was blabbering away at top speed in the room next door? Where could she possibly be back from? Lily fluttered down the steps, two at a time, and strolled into the kitchen where her mother was flipping pancakes for breakfast.

'Mum, Petunia's upstairs on the phone,' commented Lily, grabbing a plate immediately and opening the refrigerator for syrup.

'I meant your owl, dear. Sure enough, Lily's silver owl was perched dutifully on the windowsill, hold out her leg expectantly.

'Tuney!' Lily abandoned her plate and approached the window eagerly. Tuney hooted pleasantly and allowed Lily to retrieve her letter. Lily patted her owl for a job well done.

'Breakfast's in your cage,' she murmured to her. 'Tuney nibbled on her ear and then flew across to the kitchen and up the stairs to Lily's room. Mrs Evans gave a short, shrill yelp of surprise at the sudden movement.

'Sorry, Mum,' apologized Lily.

Mrs Evans shook her head in disregard and smiled despite herself. 'Didn't run away,' she said, sounding proud as she tipped a couple of pancakes onto two separate plates.

Lily grinned and took her seat in front of a pancake-rich plate, carrying her thick envelope along with her.

'Call your sister for breakfast, will you?'

'Petunia! Breakfast!' Lily was already stuffing pancakes into her mouth.

There was a muffled sound, though Lily could hear the high-pitched nervous tone of voice behind it: 'Coming!'

'Who's she talking to, anyway?' asked Lily.

Mrs Evans began to pour syrup on each plate of pancakes. 'A nice young man from school. His name's Vernon.'

Lily wrinkled her nose. 'Vernon?'

'Shush, you… Don't you make fun now. What about you, Lily? Any boyfriends I should know about?'

Lily swallowed a bite of her pancake. 'No.'

'Come, now, I won't tell your father,' said Mrs Evans, winking.

Lily laughed. 'No boyfriends. Scouts honour.'

'What about that little James Potter? He seemed simply charming.'

Lily sighed and put down her fork. 'Mother, I understand that Potter is one of the only names you know of my classmates, but please – I'm having my breakfast.'

Mrs Evans put herself a plate of pancakes and sat down next to her daughter. 'That bad?'

Lily swallowed. 'Worse.'

'Would you not yell to call me down?' snapped Petunia in an aggravated tone of voice, as she walked into the kitchen with her nose high in the air. 'Vernon was startled. He almost thought I was being attacked. I expect he'd have rushed here to protect me if I hadn't stopped him.'

Lily snorted, receiving a disapproving look from her mother. Her sister had gotten quite prissy through the time they had spent apart. Lily put her fork down once more before prying her envelope open, fumbling with the seal of Hogwarts' crest.

She pulled out the letter – the annual school letter, she assumed it was – and read through it. Gradually, a furrow began to appear between her eyebrows.

'What is it, dear?' asked Mrs Evans anxiously.

Lily's eyes were wide as she held out the letter for her mother and reached into the large envelope again. Petunia's eyes darted between her mother and the letter. There was a moment's silence, and then Mrs Evans looked up slowly, shock registered over her features. Lily pulled out a badge.

'PREFECT!' squealed Mrs Evans, thrusting the letter into Petunia's hands and jumping up to hug her youngest daughter. 'Well done, Lily!'

* * *

Lily lay down on her bed and flipped through her fourth year Transfiguration textbook. It was best for her to keep the information fresh in her mind, even if she weren't permitted to use magic.

'So… Prefect, huh?'

Lily started, sitting up to find Petunia standing at the doorway.

'I should have known,' sneered Petunia.

Lily blinked, closing her Transfiguration textbook. 'What do you mean?'

'Of course _you'd_ get the Prefect's badge. Little Miss Know-It-All.'

Lily frowned.

'You always have to show up and ruin things, don't you?' demanded Petunia. Her voice was getting progressively louder, progressively shriller.

'What are you –'

'We were just fine, but then you had to come back from your freak school and Mum and Dad have a new favourite daughter –!'

'Oh, for heaven's sake, Petunia –'

'And if it weren't enough that you had to be here, you had to change everything! In case you haven't noticed, Lily, owls don't fly into people's houses!'

'Well, they do for me –'

'Exactly, which proves my point that you're not normal! Just when I think this family could finally go back to normal, and we could live normal lives, you have to come back and ruin it all!'

Petunia was breathing hard and tears had sprung into her eyes.

Lily jumped up off her bed, her own eyes sparkling with tears that refused to fall.

'I am just as part of this family as you are,' she said in a low, deadly voice. 'I've got every right to be here… Don't you think that everyday I'm in school, I don't miss Mum and Dad and you? This – it's the only chance I've got to see you and you're trying to take that away too? Merlin, Tuney –'

Petunia gave a laugh of hysteria. 'You see? This is what I mean. 'Merlin'? No one says that! Not normal people anyway!'

'So I'm not normal then!' Lily found herself yelling now. She looked down and took a deep breath before looking back up at her sister. 'But you know what? If you don't want me here, then that's fine… Summer's over in two weeks. You'll only have to suffer that much time before I leave… I won't bother coming back for Christmas.'

Lily shut the door to her own room as she left without another backward glance.

* * *

Mrs Evans attempted to bridge the distance between her two daughters for the next few days. It was always the same thing:

'Lily honey, she's just upset – she didn't mean any of it.'

Lily looked at her mother steadily every time and shook her head. 'I've made up my mind, Mum.'

'Lily, think about this.'

'Don't worry, I'll be back for summer. I'll try to stay out of Petunia's way then, but I'll be here. If only because you and Dad want me here.'

'Of course we do, honey.'

Their repeated conversations always ended with a hug.

* * *

'Quick, you lot – only a minute and a half left!' called James past his shoulder as he dragged his cart toward the barrier of Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters, with Sirius, Remus and Peter following close behind.

'Why are we always late?' grumbled Sirius.

'Because you take marathon baths, you prat,' shot back James. 'Peter, hurry, you first,' he added to Peter.

Peter didn't waste time in charging toward the barrier and passing through within seconds.

'Perfect - Remus, you nex –' But Remus had already followed shortly after Peter with no intent to miss the train.

Sirius took a look around the station. 'You'd think the Muggles would notice people going out of their ways to run into a wall,' he mused.

'Shut up, Sirius. Half a minute left. You next.'

Sirius pushed his cart in front of him and ran toward the barrier in a savage manner, as though trying to attract attention. James, following immediately after him, managed to get onto the train only seconds before it departed for Hogwarts…

* * *

'We'll be in the back compartment, Lily,' said Alice, as she slouched sideways with the weight of her trunk. 'Find us there when you're done with your meeting, will you? Everyone's there.'

'Yeah, sure,' said Lily, waving goodbye with one hand, while patting her new luggage bag (with wheels!) with relief.

Her Prefect letter had instructed her to meet the Head By and Head Girl at the Prefect compartment as soon as she got onto the Hogwarts Express. Then, she was to patrol round the area a bit.

Lily turned on her heel, making for the Prefect compartment, but instead, found herself colliding with the body that had been moving in the opposite direction.

'Ouch –!'

'Oi!'

Lily stumbled as the trunk (with wheels!) in her hands tipped over with the impact and almost fell over until a hand steadied her at her shoulders.

'Sorry, Evans…'

Lily straightened up at the voice and met James' lopsided grin with an annoyed glare as she smoothed down her robes. When he still hadn't removed his hand from her shoulders, she glared once more. He quickly removed the hand, but the grin remained.

'Are you alright?' he inquired.

Lily patted the dust from her trunk. 'Yeah.'

James tilted his head, examining her as though he were seeing her for the first time. 'How was your break?' he asked.

'Uneventful,' lied Lily; her mind was still cast upon her latest encounter with Petunia, but she was eager to end the conversation. 'Now if you excuse me, I have to get to the Prefects' compart—oh, hi Remus!'

Remus raised a hand in greeting from behind James and received a grin from Lily. James glanced between the two of them slowly.

'Morning, Lily,' replied Remus. 'Ah, you've got the Prefect badge, did you? Well done, congratulations…'

Lily beamed. 'Thanks. And it looks like I'm not the only one. I thought you'd get that.' Lily gestured to the front of Remus' robes.

Remus glanced down at his own Prefect badge, as though he'd momentarily forgotten it was pinned onto the front of his robes.

Yeah, I did,' chuckled Remus.

'Hold on, Evans is Prefect?' demanded Sirius, as a compartment door slid open and he strolled towards them, with Greta Catchlove hanging onto his arm. 'Bloody hell, we won't be able to get away with anything!'

Lily smiled sweetly.

'There you are, Sirius,' said Remus. 'Where've you been?' When Sirius only grinned in response, James transformed his laugh into a very convincing cough.

'Hi, Lily,' chirped Greta, grinning sheepishly.

Lily returned the smile. 'Morning, Greta.'

'Where's Peter?' asked Remus, looking round. 'I haven't seen him since we boarded the train.'

'Looking for the witch with the cart of sweets,' replied Sirius with a shrug.

'Shall we go down to the Prefect compartment, Remus?' asked Lily.

'Yes, sure,' said Remus, taking a while to process the request as he yawned.

Lily nodded before turning abruptly to James. 'Potter, have I grown horns?'

James blinked. 'What?' he asked stupidly.

Lily glared up at him. 'You've been staring at me as though I've grown horns or something. Quit it, will you? It's creepy.'

And with that, she took hold of her trunk and disappeared through the doors to the Prefect compartment.

Sirius watched as she departed, giving a low whistle. 'Well, she grew _something_ alright,' he commented offhandedly, seconds before receiving a blow to the head from James. Greta Catchlove appeared scandalised.

* * *

'I'll go patrol the back, alright?' said Lily. 'I promised Kalah and Alice I'd meet them there.' The meeting had taken roughly an hour to finish, and Lily departed with Remus afterward.

'No problem,' said Remus warmly. 'I've got to find James, Sirius and Peter anyway.'

Lily wrinkled her nose at the mention and bit her lip, thinking. 'Can I ask you a question, Remus?' she asked tentatively.

'Of course,' said Remus, shrugging.

'Why do you hang out with them?'

'Do you mean James?'

'And Black.'

Remus glanced sideways at her. 'They're my friends, Lily.'

'But they're—'

'—they're my friends,' he repeated, and the conviction in his voice was so sure that Lily did not want to press the matter any further. It was fairly obvious that Remus had quite a bit of loyalty towards them.

* * *

'Listen here, you titchy little git,' threatened James, 'all I'd have to do is raise my wand and you'd be tasting mud.'

The child, half his size, jutted his chin and looked up at him defiantly. 'There's no mud here, you wanker.'

The ends of James' lips turned up maliciously. 'I meant outside.'

The child was affected this time, and he took a step backward with slightly wary eyes.

'Potter!'

James whirled round, his free hand jumping to his hair. Lily was marching toward him, absolutely livid.

'What in Merlin do you think you're doing?' she demanded, advancing upon him.

'Evans–'

'You were going to attack this second-year?' exclaimed Lily, gesturing between James and the second-year boy, who did not appear very scared anymore.

'I wasn't actually going to do it—' defended James.

'But you did just threaten him, then?'

'Well—' James thought about it. 'Well, yeah—but the little berk cheeked me!'

'Oh, and that makes it all right now, does it?'

James grinned, stuffing his hands into his pockets. 'I knew you'd understand, Evans.'

Lily raised an eyebrow. 'Oh, I understand, all right. Detention.'

James' grin slid off his face. 'What!' he yelped. 'You can't give me detention!'

Lily smirked, tapping the badge pinned on her front. 'I just did. I'm a Prefect, Potter.'

James looked gob smacked as Lily walked past him to the second-year child, a Slytherin. She crouched down to level herself with his height.

'Are you all right?' she asked him kindly, reaching into her robes, pulling from them a rolled sweet and handing it to him. The child looked between James and Lily.

'Yes,' he whimpered.

James' jaw dropped.

* * *

'Oi, Evans!'

Lily barely spared a glance past her shoulder as she strolled past; term had officially begun the day before. 'What Potter? I'm late for Transfiguration.'

James grinned in response and fell into step next to her. 'Great, so am I. I'll walk you.'

Lily made a disgusted face. 'No, thanks.'

James leant in and swung an arm over her shoulder. 'Come now, Evans. We do have the same class together.'

Lily gave two pointed looks; one towards the arm around her shoulder and one towards the wand held up in her left hand. James grinned cheekily as a result but withdrew his arm all the same, depositing both hands into his pockets.

'Question for you, Evans – are you doing anything this Saturday?'

'As a matter of fact, Potter, yes I am,' responded Lily, picking up speed in the hope that Potter would take the hint and walk himself to class. Instead, James only picked up his own speed, matching her stride for stride.

'Yeah? What are you doing?'

'Well, I thought I'd go and meet Amos at his common room. We're going to do a bit of studyi –'

'What!'

Lily appeared momentarily flabbergasted at the outburst. 'What? We're allowed in other Houses' common rooms so long as they let us in, you know, I checked with Professor McGonagall…'

'Hold on –! Diggory?'

'Yes, Diggory!' said Lily, using the same frantic tone as James in mockery. 'And I suppose you've got a problem with that?'

'Well, yeah!'

'Well, isn't that just a darn shame, then,' replied Lily sarcastically. As an afterthought, she shot him a glare. 'I'm warning you, Potter, you'd better leave him alone. One hex and I'll –'

'When did he ask you?' interrupted James, ignoring her warnings and threats and speaking in a half-growl.

'Yesterday. In Charms.'

'The annoying berk. I'm sure he was perfectly _charm_ing.'

'Potter!'

'What?'

'I'm telling you, there's nothing wrong with Amos! So don't you hex him like you do any other innocent bystander!'

'Since when do I hex innocent bystanders?'

'Since always! I saw you on the train, Potter, ready to hex that poor Second-year; probably because he was a Slytherin, no doubt –'

'For the last time, Evans, I wasn't going to hex him,' exclaimed James exasperatedly. 'I was only trying to scare him a bit. And it wasn't because he was in Slytherin. He was being a git –!'

'Well then, I guess you know how I feel all the time.'

James blinked, appearing confused.

'What do you mean?'

'I mean – you're always being a gi – oh, forget it.' Lily picked up her pace again. James matched it once more.

'So, what's so special about Diggory, anyway?' he prodded.

Lily raised an eyebrow at him disbelievingly. 'Would you just drop it, Potter? Why is it that you always attempt to attack the people I go out with?'

James faltered as they turned the corner of the hallway.

'Because I – oi, I only attacked Aubrey! Wait a sec – you're _going out_ with Diggory, then? It's not just a sodding study thing? Hold on … _people_ you go out with? I –' James quickly changed his tone of voice to one of indifference. 'Er – who else did you go out with?'

'Wouldn't you like to know,' drawled Lily, rolling her eyes before giving him another stern look. 'Honestly, Potter, leave Amos alone.'

'You already said that.'

'Yes, well, with your brains, I figured a couple hundred times ought to do the trick.'

'Oi!'

Lily smirked smugly as she strolled into class.

* * *

James kicked the dormitory door closed behind him as he, Sirius and Peter arrived at their dormitory after breakfast.

'I brought you some food, Remus,' said James, as he strolled over to Remus' bed and dumped an armload of food onto it. Remus sat up slowly from his bed – he had overslept that day in order to catch the sleep he'd lost on the day of the full moon that had occurred just before school started.

'You're missing Charms,' he said tiredly.

Peter shrugged. 'Don't worry, Remus. McGonagall cleared us.'

'Merlin, you lot,' I don't eat that much,' said Remus, gazing bewildered at the food that had been unceremoniously piled onto the foot of his bed.

'We know,' said Sirius, grabbing an orange from the pile and proceeding to peel it. 'Some of it's for me.'

Remus grinned in response, reaching for a wrapped croissant himself.

'By the way, Remus,' said James, falling back onto his own bed and reaching into his robes to withdraw a folded parchment. 'My mum's invited you over for next summer break.'

Remus gave James a sad smile. 'Tell Mrs Potter that I'm honoured for her invitation. But you know I can't come, James. The full moon comes out during the summer too, you know.'

'We're aware of that,' said Sirius, tossing the peels of his orange onto the ground.

Peter glowered from the mess on the floor to Sirius.

'Sorry, Pete,' apologized Sirius quickly, leaning down and picking up the peels swiftly. 'You can come over for a few weeks, at least, can't you?'

Remus shrugged casually, opening his mouth to speak before James cut him off.

'Still... let me have the honour of telling you that you will no longer have to suffer the pain of werewolf transformation.'

Remus scoffed. 'Have you found a cure, then?' he joked.

Sirius made a face at him. 'Mind the attitude, Remus, ol' pal. What James is trying to say is that you'll never have to suffer the pain _alone_.'

Remus paused, allowing the words to sink in. 'Hold on – have you –?' He looked from one grinning mate to another, but neither James nor Sirius nor Peter said anything.

Remus jumped out of his bed promptly. 'You did it? You're all able to transform into animals!'

'Shh!' chastised Peter. 'Keep your voice down before we get caught!'

Remus' eyes shone as they darted between his friends once more. 'W—well done!'

'James and I were ready by the summer,' said Sirius. 'It took us about two months to help Wormtail over here.' He jerked his thumb in Peter's direction, where Peter was eating a jam doughnut; Peter grinned cheekily.

The corners of Remus' mouth twitched. 'Wormtail?'

'Yeah,' said Sirius, grinning and sounding animated. 'See, the first time Pete managed to transform perfectly was in James' backyard. We had a shufty trying to find him; the little rat was scurrying all over the place. Then James reached down, thinking he'd grabbed Peter's tail. Turned out he'd grabbed a flobberworm instead.'

Remus burst out into laughter while James grimaced.

'Anyway,' continued Sirius, in a serious voice, though. 'I'd reckoned we ought to come up with nicknames for our Animagi selves. That way, if we were to discuss it in public, no one would catch on.'

'Good idea,' said Remus with a nod. 'So am I to assume you two have got codenames too?'

'All in good time, my good friend,' said James, getting to his feet. 'Oi, Wormtail, you first.'

Peter put down his doughnut and wiped the dust from his hands onto his trousers before getting to his feet slowly. He glanced toward the dormitory door. 'It's locked, yeah?'

Sirius waved his wand once with a mutter under his breath. 'It is now,' he confirmed.

'First for what?' pondered Remus.

James blinked. 'I'm sure you'd like to see what it looks like, the transformations?' he clarified.

Remus grinned. 'Yeah, of course!'

Peter scrunched up his face. 'Er—James, I haven't practiced since—I'm not sure I can still—'

'Sure you can,' cut off James briskly. 'You've done it tons of times. This is no different.'

'Don't worry about it, Wormtail,' assured Sirius. 'You've even got three brilliant wizards here in case anything goes wrong.'

Peter chuckled and stepped back so that he was standing at the middle of the room, with James, Sirius and Remus all huddled round Remus' bed. He closed his eyes and screwed up his face in apparent concentration.

Remus could see it turn red underneath the head of mousy-brown hair.

Then something happened. Peter began to shrink—slowly, at first, but then his height loss picked up speed. His hair shrunk into his scalp and darkened, and his nose shot out. His fingernails became claws and a long, worm-like tail emerged from his behind. There was a slight 'pop' and then suddenly, Peter had become a rat.

'Great Agrippa!' exclaimed Remus, jumping to his feet again; his eyes trailed Peter's figure as it scurried across the floor. 'Well done, Peter! That was great!'

James grinned at him in amusement. 'You're impressed fairly easily, aren't you?' he asked. 'If you thought that was great, wait until you see the rest of ours.'

'I'm next,' said Sirius, jumping up as the small rat transformed back into the shape of Peter Pettigrew, beaming with accomplishment on the floor.

Sirius made a show of strutting toward the middle of the room. He waved at his friends with a grin and in a far quicker 'pop' than Peter's, had transformed into a large, black dog.

Remus' grin was permanent on his face. Sirius bounded over to him with his tail wagging, his tongue hanging from his mouth.

'Good technique,' praised Remus appreciatively as Peter laughed at the expressions on Sirius' new dog face. 'You've managed to increase your muscle, _and_ decrease your mass…That's a really stable shape.'

'We call him Padfoot,' said James, scratching Sirius under the ears.

Remus laughed. 'Why's that?'

'He stepped in ink when he first transformed at my house this summer. And, well, you know what happens when you walk round with ink on your feet… We got to see what a dog's foot-print looks like.'

Remus nodded with a smile. 'Padfoot,' he told himself mentally.

Sirius transformed with another 'pop' to a beaming, crouched heap on the floor.

'Fleas, fleas,' he muttered. 'I can smell them.'

James and Peter roared with laughter. 'You should have seen Padfoot at my place,' said James, answering the confusion on Remus' face. 'The fleas followed him like Peeves does Snivellus.'

'Yeah, yeah,' muttered Sirius darkly, in response to Remus' chuckles. 'Laugh it up.'

'Right,' said James, jumping up as Sirius straightened up. 'My turn. Best for last, d'you reckon?'

Sirius snorted and Remus rolled his eyes. Peter laughed jovially, reaching for another doughnut on Remus' bed.

James surveyed the space around him slowly.

'I think it's enough,' said Sirius, watching him.

'Yeah?' inquired James, 'OK...'

James positioned himself at the middle of the room and lifted his arms in a grand manner. Seconds later, after a slight 'pop', a large stag stood in the midst of the fifth year dormitory.

Remus jumped again, evidently startled by James' size. 'Brilliant! James, that's – that's really good!'

James bowed his head, thoroughly pleased. Peter gazed at James in admiration.

Remus observed the stag. It was large and brown, with enormous antlers that emerged from its head, and thick, glossy brown fur covering its body.

'The detail… it's amazing,' said Remus, walking round James. 'It's really well practiced!'

Sirius held his arms up. 'May I present to you… Prongs!'

Remus nodded, the corners of his lips twitching. 'Let me guess… the first time he transformed, he knocked down a pile of things with his antlers?'

Sirius grinned. 'Not quite. Let's just say it involved his prongs and my behind…'

Remus laughed and stepped back as James transformed back into his human form. 'Wow, James… I've got to admit, you've pulled it off.'

James smirked. 'So do I win?'

'What do you mean?' inquired Remus.

'Don't think I've forgotten you lot poking fun of my choice of Animagus,' said James in a dignified voice.

'Oh, right,' said Remus, appearing slightly embarrassed. 'Yeah, I'd say you won.'

James pumped a fist into the air. 'Yes!'

'There's only one thing left to do,' said Sirius, ignoring James' enthusiasm, and getting to his feet. 'We need a nickname for Remus over here…'

James wiggled his eyebrows and rubbed his hands together mischievously.

Remus put his arms up. 'Oi, I don't have an Animagus, remember?'

'So what?' said Peter. 'You still transform into something. You're still one of us, Remus.'

Remus smiled in spite of himself.

'I've got it! We can call you Moony!' said Sirius with a snap of his fingers. 'I mean, if we're basing these names on the first time we transformed, Moony makes sense, doesn't it?'

'That's right,' agreed James. 'After all, it is the full moon that has you transform anyway.'

'Moony it is,' said Peter, cheerfully patting Remus on the back.

'When's the next full moon?' asked Sirius in cheerful anticipation.

'About two weeks from today,' replied Remus, and for the first time in his life, he was actually feeling a bit enthusiastic for the appearing of the full moon.

* * *

'First Quidditch practice next Saturday,' announced Kalah at breakfast as she sat down across from Lily and Alice, holding up the announcement with a wide smile plastered across her face.

Lily squinted at the poster from above the planner through which she had been flipping idly. 'Hm, so it is.'

'It's Will Johnson's last year,' said Kalah with a sigh. 'He wants to play Quidditch professionally so the Gryffindor team's going to have to play really well if he's got any chance of a scout hiring him.'

'Shall we go down to breakfast?' asked Alice, double-checking her rucksack to make sure she hadn't forgotten her Potions textbook as she usually did.

'Oh, bugger...' Lily glanced at Kalah, a look of panic painted on her face.

'What's wrong, Lily?' asked Alice as she zipped close her rucksack.

'I forgot,' hissed Lily, bringing a hand up to her mouth in shock. 'I promised Frank I'd help him study Potions tonight.'

Kalah frowned. 'But I thought McGonagall asked you to –'

'I know!' cried Lily. 'What am I going to do? Frank needs help writing the essay due Friday and –' Lily paused, her eyes fixated on Kalah's face.

Kalah leant back slightly. 'Might I remind you I barely scraped by Potions last semester with an 'A'?' she offered with a small voice.

'But you finished your essay already!' protested Lily.

Kalah sighed. 'I'd help, Lily, but I'm on older-sister-N.E.W.T.-duty. Neera's taking the NEWTS this year, and I've been conscripted as her study coach.' She made a face. 'Honestly, she's such a child. I don't understand why she can't study herself—we all manage do it, don't we? In any case, Mum and Dad said they'd get me the Lighting 500 racing broom if I help her—and hell, I really want it.' Kalah paused, her eyes bright with eagerness before she turned to jerk her thumb at Alice. 'What about Alice, though? You're good at Potions, aren't you, Alice?'

Alice blinked. 'Me?'

'You did finish with an 'E',' agreed Lily. 'I promise I'll make it up to you if you could tutor Frank today.'

'I do have a spare period,' said Alice, putting a finger to her chin delicately as she thought through her timetable. 'Well... alright. Don't worry, Lily. I can take over for you—go to your meeting with McGonagall. It's just—I've got nothing planned. I'm not a very good tutor, you see.'

'You don't have to be,' assured Lily. 'You've just got to help him with his essay. I'm sure he's got plenty of questions to ask anyway.'

'OK,' said Alice, sounding unsure.

'Thank you, Alice,' chirped Lily, swinging her rucksack over her shoulder and rushing out the Great Hall. 'I owe you one!'

'Witch Weekly is selling a new perfume!' chimed Alice to Lily's retreating figure. Kalah sniggered next to her.

* * *

'Right, Moony, here's the plan,' said James. 'You'll go with McGonagall to that room first – what is it they started calling it?'

'The Shrieking Shack,' said Sirius, grinning. 'Dumbledore's going round announcing that the place is haunted and that that's where all the scary noises are coming from. I suppose he figured it'd easier than letting everyone know, that, well, Moony's a werewolf.'

Remus smirked in response.

'Frank's getting tutored by Alice Prewett tonight, so he shouldn't be back for awhile,' continued James. 'I'll charm our curtains closed and make it so that the sound of Padfoot snoring is the first thing he hears. He'll figure we'll asleep and head off to bed.'

'We'll stick around a bit after you've got with McGonagall to tell everyone where you've gone,' said Sirius.

'Yeah, you've really got to come up with a better lie than 'my mom's sick',' agreed James. 'Did you see Claudia Crawford last month with the questions? You're worrying people.'

'Nah,' said Sirius, smirking. 'I reckon Crawford just fancies our little Moony.' Peter sniggered. 'She even stops him in the corridors to talk.'

'For the last time, Sirius,' came Remus' exasperated voice. 'Claudia and I are only friends. We're Prefects –'

Sirius imitated him, resulting in a loud laugh from Peter and a glare from Remus.

Ignoring the two of them, Remus turned to James. 'James, I know you lot are set on this... but I dunno, I've been thinking lately—don't you think being around a werewolf is... dangerous?'

'Gee, Moony,' said Sirius, sounding bored. 'We hadn't realized.'

'Sirius—'

'Remus,' said James, cutting him off. 'You've been trying to stop us from doing this since second year. How's that worked out for you so far?'

'Not very well,' chimed Peter, answering for him.

'What if something goes wrong?' asked Remus desperately.

'Trust me, Moony,' said James, sounding cocky now. 'I think we can handle a werewolf. We're even bringing our wands.'

'That's right,' added Peter. 'You're not taking this away from us—we've trained for too long.'

The door suddenly swung forward. Sirius and Peter jumped at the sound.

'Oi, Longbottom!' called Sirius with a cheerful wave.

Frank appeared preoccupied, as he rushed straight for his trunk and began to rummage through his things. He glanced up, however, and offered a wave.

'Hey, you lot. I'm late for tutoring—Lily said she'd help me write my Potions essay, but I walked all the way down to the library before I realized I'd forgotten my textbook. Thick, eh?' Frank chuckled as he continued to rummage through his trunk.

Remus' face scrunched up in thought. 'Lily's tutoring you?' he asked. 'But I thought Lily was helping Professor McGonagall tonight.'

Frank blinked, looking up from his trunk. 'Professor McGonagall needs help with Potions too?' he gasped.

Sirius gave a bark of laughter. 'No, mate, McGonagall asked Evans to help her out with something—Prefect-related, no doubt.'

Frank's expression became one of panic. 'Then how the bloody hell am I going to finish this Potions essay? If I get anything less than an 'E' on this paper, Mum'll go mad—she'll send me Howlers, she'll—'

'Oi, calm down,' laughed James. 'Don't worry, Frank—Prewett told me to tell you that she's taking Lily's place—she'll help you with the essay.'

Frank thought for a moment. 'Alice Prewett?' he asked, fishing his Potions textbook out finally.

'You know Alice,' said James. 'Gryffindor? Blond hair?'

'About yay high?' supplied Peter, holding up a hand.

'Yeah, yeah,' said Frank, waving a hand dismissively. 'I remember her. I just haven't seen much of her since second year, see. They split houses up after third year and she wasn't in any of my classes.'

'Well,' said Sirius jovially as he checked Peter's wristwatch for the time. 'There's nothing like a nice, awkward reunion of old friends, as I say. Er—shouldn't you get going, mate?'

Frank jumped up abruptly. 'Yeah, I should,' he said. 'See you later, mates!' Tucking his textbook under his arm, Frank hurried out the door. When the door slammed shut, Sirius turned to Remus.

'All set for werewolf time,' he said with a grin. 'Quit making that face, Moony, it's happening. Tell you what, though—if we get our limbs torn out tonight, I'll let you say 'I told you so'. How's that sound?'

Remus appeared as though he were going to be sick.

* * *

'She's gone,' said James, whipping the Invisibility Cloak off Sirius, Peter and himself. 'Alright Wormtail, you're up.' He stuffed his Invisibility Cloak into his robes. There was a small 'pop' and Peter had transformed.

James watched as Wormtail slipped underneath the swaying branches of the Whomping Willow and prodded the knot that froze it. He turned to Sirius and nodded for him to go ahead in front of him.

Sirius obliged, ran forward and slipped through the tunnel, with James following closely behind.

James and Sirius sprinted through the tunnel and caught sight of Peter scurrying along as well. The tunnel was very long, but short in height. James had to duck so that head did not continuously scrape against the ceiling.

James sighed.

'Quit sighing, Prongs, you've been sighing all day.'

Peter transformed into his human form to join the conversation.

'What did Evans do this time?' he asked.

James blinked. 'What makes you think it's about Evans?'

'It's always about Evans,' said Sirius. 'Even in the summer.'

'What do you mean?' said James, clearing his throat.

'Please, I saw those crumpled up _Dear Lily_ drafts all around your room – don't look so shocked, Prongs, you knew I'd find them.'

Peter laughed as James' face heated up.

'You're way too hung up on her, mate,' continued Sirius, 'you even start acting like an idiot whenever she's around.'

'And you start grinning like one too,' piped in Peter.

'Shut up,' grumbled James, finding himself turn red.

'What'd she do?' asked Sirius.

In his embarrassment, James didn't say anything for a few seconds. Then:

'Diggory, Padfoot!' he blurted. 'She's going out with Diggory!'

'Diggory!' choked Sirius. 'Are you kidding me? The bloke in Hufflepuff with the tight pants?'

Peter sniggered and James nodded miserably.

'Don't worry, mate,' said Sirius, clapping James on the back. 'If I know Evans, she'll drop him in about two weeks.'

'But you don't know Evans,' reminded Peter gently. Sirius waved him off.

'Minor details, minor details. Trust me, Prongs… I know Diggory. Don't ask, it's a long story. But that bloke'll have Evans running in a week, two tops. And in her distress, she'll come running back to you.' He grinned at James.

James couldn't help but feel a grin crawl up his face.

'There, that's it,' said Peter, pointing at James. 'That's the face he gets whenever Evans is around.'

James shot him an annoyed look.

The passage went on and on, and it seemed to have no end. And then it began to rise. Finally, it twisted, and James could see a patch of dim light through a small opening.

James and Sirius edged forward, and saw a large room.

'That took long enough,' said Sirius, dusting off his robes and straightening up. Peter rubbed his back in pain.

The room was large and disordered. It had scratches all round and the walls and the furniture were mostly broken up—as though somebody had scratched them. The windows were boarded up with thick planks of wood and the room was lit up with glowing orbs of fire attached to the ceiling.

'Moony?' called James. 'You here?'

There was a shuffling from the ceiling.

'Damn,' cursed Sirius. 'The moon hasn't fully come out yet, has it?'

'No,' said James firmly, eyes focused on the staircase. 'I'm sure we wouldn't still be alive if it had.'

Peter whimpered. There was a moment's silence.

'Oh, you've made it!'

Peter jumped violently, his head whipping around to the source of the sound. Remus appeared at the top of the staircase with the largest grin James had ever seen on him.

'Nice place you've got here, Moony,' said Sirius cheerfully. Truly enough, other than the eerie appearance, the shack seemed as though it would have made a cozy home.

Remus played along, holding his arms out in a presenting manner. 'Home sweet home,' he said.

Peter laughed. 'How much time have we got?' he asked.

Sirius checked his watch. 'About five minutes, I reckon.'

'Great,' said James. 'How about you give us the grand tour?'

'Not much to show,' said Remus, his tone light. Then, in a more nervous voice: 'Are you lot sure about this? You know, I won't be offended if any of you change your minds—'

'Remus, did I ever tell you that you remind me of my mother sometimes?' asked Sirius, his voice bored.

Remus looked taken aback. 'I thought you hated your mother.'

'Not that part,' said Sirius, waving his hand carelessly. 'I meant that you both have this annoying habit of repeating the same things over and over again. I believe we already clarified that yes, we are sure we want to be here, sure we want to keep you company as Animagi and sure we won't get caught or die?'

Remus blinked, caught off guard by the gravity of Sirius' tone. 'Well—'

'Well nothing. We've got all this figured out, Remus. We're not stupid, you know. We know how this is going to work.'

'He's right,' put in James gently. 'We've done more than read the Animagi books, you know. We know that you won't be able to recognize as soon as you transform, not for the first bit anyway.'

Remus' face registered shock and fright.

'But you won't kill us either,' said Peter quickly. 'You'll recognize our scents.'

'We'll just have to keep you subdued for a bit until you do,' added James.

Remus sighed. 'Alright,' he breathed.

'And if the situation gets too under control,' added Sirius, his voice lightening up once more, 'we can always escape through that door. We've all got our wands, and no offence, Moony, but even a werewolf isn't a match for good ol' Sirius Black.'

Remus beamed.

Peter glanced down at the thick watch around his wrist. 'Let's transform, you lot,' he said, his voice gaining pitch.

James grinned, and separated himself from Sirius and Peter before transforming. There were three distinct 'pop's and then the shack was no longer inhabited by four boys but a rat, dog, stag and a shaky Remus instead.

'Thanks, you lot,' he said quietly. 'This really does mean a lot to me.'

And then he went rigid. His limbs began to shake. Prongs, Padfoot and Wormtail braced themselves.

Moony began to snarl loudly. His head and body began to lengthen and his shoulders hunched. His hair began to visibly sprout on his face and hands—hands that were curling into clawed paws.

The werewolf reared and snapped its long jaws. There was a moment's pause, and then a loud howl filled the air.

Moony whipped round immediately at the scent, this foreign scent in his territory—his constraining territory. Blinded by an inexplicable rage, he bounded toward the mixture of scents, his teeth bared.

But his claws never made contact with the skin he so longed to tear as two large figures collided into him, pounding him backward and crushing him against the wall in restraint.

Moony began to panic and his limbs thrashed about wildly. This was an attack—these odd scents were attacking him. His survival was in question. Moony's jaws snapped closed and open as he attempted to free himself from the massive figures' grasp.

Then there was a sharp pain on his right forearm. Moony flinched and saw a small creature on his forearm, scurrying away in fear of attack.

But suddenly the scents did not seem so foreign. And the massive figures had yet to attack him after having restrained him.

Moony took a tentative sniff of the air, allowing his nose to filter through the layers, separating it into three distinct and almost familiar scents.

Moments later, Remus slackened his muscles, and slid against the wall onto the floor. He let out low rumbling sound from the depths of his stomach. There was a quiet voice speaking in his head; it repeated the same words over and over again.

'They're my friends...'


	8. Snape's Suspicions

**_Disclaimer_**_: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. In order to make my story seem more authentic, I have literally cut and pasted direct scenes from Rowling's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. These scenes are clearly italicized, and are properly referenced that the end of the chapter._

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* * *

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**_"A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of."_**

**_- Jane Austen_**

_

* * *

_

As Hallowe'en approached, James found himself busier than ever. The Gryffindor Quidditch team, having lost no members to graduation the year before, got right down to Will Johnson's strict training regime. With the news of the Slytherins having bought new brooms circulating the castle, Will was training his team with a vengeance to be reckoned with. James found that the professors did not help him adjust much either, as they were a lot tougher this semester than the last. Professor McGonagall had taken to assigning essays weekly and homework for every class as well now. She never failed to remind students (Peter always seemed to be one of these students) that if they did not study hard that year, they would fail their O.W.L.s. To his delight, however, McGonagall had mentioned that Peter's Transfiguration had greatly improved from the last year. ('You're welcome, Wormtail,' Sirius had muttered during said class.)

Despite the fact that he was never really fond of Potions, James seemed to enjoy it that year. Of course, he'd never admit that this was partially due to the fact that Lily Evans sat right in front of him in that class, whereas she sat about four rows up in Transfiguration.

It was a particularly interesting Potions class when Professor Slughorn introduced the Polyjuice Potion.

'This, my friends, is the Polyjuice Potion,' said Slughorn, indicating to a large vat of dark, thick, mud-like substance. 'Anyone know what this does –? Ah, yes, Miss Evans can tell me, of course!'

Slughorn bowed his head in Lily's direction.

'It transforms you into someone else,' said Lily. 'Or it changes your appearance, at least.'

'Quite right, my dear, quite right. Five points to Gryffindor,' said Slughorn brightly. 'Now, today we'll be learning potions that are similar to Polyjuice Potion. They don't necessarily change one's entire appearance as the Polyjuice Potion does, but they do change a specific aspect. The potion we'll be making also doesn't last quite as long as the Polyjuice potion, but I'm sure you'll all find it quite interesting all the same...

_

* * *

_

James put his head in his hands miserably as he sat surrounded by Sirius, Remus and Peter that day; they had taken refuge in the common room.

'She's going out with _Diggory__,' _he muttered. 'She's going out with Diggory and she likes him.'

'Don't worry, Prongs,' said Sirius bracingly. 'Didn't you hear her in breakfast this morning? She was telling Kalah Ramnath that Tight Pants Diggory was a bit of an odd fellow.'

James tilted his head up to show Sirius the defeated look on his face. 'Well I also heard he was 'brilliant' and 'kind'.'

'Not to mention 'good-looking',' piped Peter.

'I don't think you're helping, Wormtail,' said Remus gently.

'But _I'm_ smart!' exclaimed James. 'And nice! And come on, can you say 'no' to a face like this?' He grinned charmingly.

'I'm sure Evans could,' said Sirius fairly.

James' face fell. 'Bloody git, that Diggory,' he said darkly. 'Stupid wanker… why, I've got half a mind to hex his lights out.'

'I'm impressed, Prongs,' said Remus. 'It only took you a week to hex Aubrey after you found he was dating Lily. I figured you'd have already hexed Diggory by now.'

'I would have,' groaned James. 'Trust me, if I had my way, Diggory would have left her alone ages ago. But Evans warned me about a million times already. If something happens to that berk, she'll know it was me. And she'll hate me more than she already does.'

'She doesn't hate you, James,' said Peter.

James scoffed with disbelief. 'Oh, yeah, I'm sure you can tell by the way she gets that disgusted look and tells me to bugger off every time I get near her,' said James sarcastically.

Sirius chuckled, stopping only when met by the disapproving expression on Remus' face.

'You know, I'm surprised too,' pondered Sirius out loud. 'Diggory was there when we hexed Aubrey. You'd think he'd have gotten the message by now.'

'Yeah, well we've already established that Diggory doesn't have brains like the rest of us. He's got a death-wish,' muttered James.

'James, you can't –' exclaimed a startled Remus.

'Yeah, yeah,' grumbled James. 'Murder will probably get me expelled,' grumbled James. 'I'm not going to attack him.' There was a pause and then, quite unexpectedly, a slow grin appeared on his face.

'Really?' asked Peter, sounding disappointed.

'Really,' affirmed James. His grin had stretched across his face. 'I'm going to break up with Evans for him.'

'You're kidding, right?' said Sirius; his voice was filled with skepticism.

'He's finally cracked,' muttered Remus, shaking his head.

'No,' insisted James. 'Two words, you lot: Polyjuice. Potion.'

_

* * *

_

'Oi, Lily,' called Amos, as he walked toward the portrait of the Fat Lady from which Lily had emerged. He glanced past her nervously.

'Morning, Amos,' said Lily brightly. She faltered slightly, following Amos' gaze through the tunnel into the Gryffindor common room. 'Er – are you alright?'

'Huh? Oh – yeah, I am.'

Amos led Lily through the corridor as they began to walk to no particular destination.

'So,' said Amos, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his pants. 'Are you coming to the Quidditch match this Saturday? It's Hufflepuff versus Gryffindor, you know.'

'I wouldn't miss it,' replied Lily with a beam. 'My friend's on the Gryffindor team. So I'm afraid I'm going to have to root for red and gold,' she added jokingly.

Amos chuckled. 'Understandable,' he said. 'I won't take personal offence to that. Even though I'm on the Hufflepuff team.' He stole a glance at Lily from the corner of his eyes.

'I saw you play last year,' commented Lily with a nod. 'You're really good.'

'Yeah? Thanks!' Amos appeared rather pleased with himself. 'Would you say I'm better than Potter?'

Lily shrugged noncommittally. 'Well, as I'd said – I'd have to say Gryffindor is best. But why do you ask about Potter?'

Amos shrugged casually. 'I don't know, I just want to know what you think of him,' he replied.

Lily halted in her tracks and let out a frustrated sigh. 'What is the castle's obsession with James Potter?'

'What do you mean?'

Lily gave him a pointed look. 'Well, haven't you noticed that Potter gets away with anything and everything? Detentions don't even bother him anymore! It's as though he and his mates can do anything they want because – well, I'm not sure why, but it's infuriating! Not a single day passes without Potter and his mates having done something completely rubbish and for some mad reason, everybody loves him for it!'

Amos sighed, and regarded Lily with a pitying look. 'Looks like you're the one who's obsessed,' he said quietly.

Lily blinked.

Amos shook his head in a pitying manner.

'Excuse me?' demanded Lily, her voice dangerously low.

'Well,' said Amos, entirely oblivious to Lily's seething annoyance, 'you're always talking about him, aren't you? And everyone says he fancies you! I'm not sure I'd like to have some stupid, big-headed Quidditch hero stalk my girlfriend all the time!

'Potter does not stalk me,' hissed Lily. 'And I'll have you know, Amos, I'm very capable of taking care of myself. After all, I'm not the one looking past a shoulder anticipating an attack!'

Amos' face flushed red and he opened his mouth to retaliate.

'I'm not –'

But Lily cut him off. 'Look, I've got a Herbology essay to finish. I'll talk to you later, alright?' she said, sounding suddenly tired.

She turned round and headed back toward the portrait of the Fat Lady before Amos could reply, leaving him to gape like a fish out of water.

_

* * *

_

'Prongs, mate, I don't think this Cloak can hold all four of us anymore…'

'Yeah, well, it's dark… our feet won't show.'

'Fine, fine – ow! Wormtail, that was my toe!'

'Oh, sorry, Padfoot…'

'Will you lot shut it?'

'Oh, well isn't _Moony_ the expert in breaking and entering!'

'No, I'm not the expert, Sirius. But I am smart enough to know that you ought to be quiet when you're doing something that could probably earn you a detention.'

'Point well made.'

'Thank you.'

'We're here.'

James held his lit wand up so that the door to the Potions dungeon was visible. James was certain that Slughorn kept his Polyjuice Potion somewhere in there.

'Padfoot – knife?' he whispered.

Sirius reached into his robes and pulled out a silver knife. He ran it down the space between the door and its frame: the result was a 'click', after which the door swung open.

Sirius gave his mates a smug grin, to which Remus waved his hand impatiently, urging him to proceed into the dungeon.

As soon as the four had crept into the dungeon, James whipped off his Invisibility Cloak, Peter took a breath of relief—James had always suspected he was claustrophobic. Remus headed straight toward the ingredients cabinet. Sirius strayed around at the edge of the classroom. There was quiet for a bit as Remus rummaged through the cabinets.

'Oi, look what I found,' said Sirius moments later, picking up one particular vile and holding it up for James and Peter to see.

James recognized the liquid inside instantly. It had a gleaming surface and steam was rising in spirals. A light scent was wafting through the room –vanilla and water lilies—Amortentia.

'I'll bet this'll give you the edge you need with Evans, Prongs,' said Sirius, his tone thick with implications as he waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

'Ha ha,' replied James humourlessly. 'Thanks, but I think I'll pass. It's dangerous, that love potion stuff. I once had an Aunt Glenda who swallowed a vat of love potion and ran away with a chiropractor.'

'What's a chiropractor?' inquired Peter.

'Dunno,' replied James. 'We never talk about Uncle Stu.'

'So is that a no on the Amortentia?' clarified Sirius.

'That's a definite no, mate,' came the affirmation.

Sirius shrugged, examining the vile. 'Suit yourself,' he said, pocketing the vile.

'Padfoot!'

'What? It'll come in handy one day!'

'I thought you were going out with Florence Finnigan,' said Peter.

Sirius made a face. 'Florence? Nah, we were never together.'

Before James could make a comment, an excited yelp came from inside the cabinet room.

'Found it!' Remus appeared at the doorway with a flask of thick, muddy substance held in his hands.

James grinned. 'Brilliant. Let's go.'

* * *

'I think I can't stand him, you lot.'

'Silly Lily,' said Kalah, in the midst of a Charms essay, 'we already knew you can't stand James Potter.'

'Not Potter! Amos!'

Alice raised a perfectly arched eyebrow. 'Is he still paranoid?' she asked.

'You lot saw him at breakfast,' said Lily in a small voice. 'I told you about how we got into an argument yesterday, right? It happened again this morning.'

'What happened this time?' asked Kalah.

'Potter told me good morning!' said Lily hysterically. 'And then Amos flinched and glared—I don't understand him; one second he'd be bold and tell me that he doesn't appreciate Potter's attention, but then the next, he'd get scared and hide!'

'If you want my opinion,' said Kalah thoughtfully. 'I think Potter's scared everyone away.'

'What do you mean?' asked Lily.

Kalah turned to face her. 'Well, last year, you went out with Bertram Aubrey. James and his mates hexed his head twice its size and he's a year older! You can't be so blind, Lily, the rumours have been going round since James' Quidditch match—'

'—that's right, his accident—' mused Alice.

'—everybody thinks he fancies you!'

'That's rubbish!' sputtered Lily.

Alice shook her head. 'You've got to admit, Lily. When he hexed Bertram, it really just sent the message that—'

'—that what!' exclaimed Lily, sounding frustrated.

Kalah and Alice exchanged glances. 'That... you're _his_,' said Kalah slowly.

Lily's jaw dropped and she stood up abruptly. Kalah shielded herself immediately in defence.

'That's not true!'

'Oh, of course it's not,' said Alice comfortingly. 'But they're blokes. That's just how they think.'

Lily sat down grumpily. 'I think it's rubbish.'

Alice gave her a rueful smile. 'Are you going to break it off with him?'

Lily shrugged helplessly in response.

'Alright, you lot,' said Alice, packing her things to depart. 'I've got to go.' She was tutoring Frank Longbottom again that evening.

'Thanks, Alice,' said Lily. 'I'm so sorry, I know I said I'd help Frank, but I've got a Prefect meeting in a bit and—'

'Don't worry, Lily,' said Alice with a smile. 'It's fine. Besides, Frank's not so bad—he's a quick learner.'

'He is,' agreed Lily.

'See you all in a bit!' called Alice, and she disappeared out the door, just as Marlene strolled in casually.

'Oi, Lily,' she said, smacking her lips on Drooble's Best Bubble Gum, 'Diggory's outside the common room. He says he wanted to discuss—er—I believe it was Potter's last... Quidditch game?' She trailed off sounding confused as she headed toward the bathroom.

Kalah gave Lily a meaningful look, to which the latter jumped off her bed promptly.

Lily was muttering, 'the last straw' as the dormitory door slammed shut behind her.

* * *

'Got it!' cried Sirius triumphantly as he strolled into the boys' bathroom with Peter to find James and Remus standing in front of the large mirror. Sirius held up a single strand of blond hair; James grinned at the sight.

'Where's Diggory?' asked Remus suspiciously.

'In a broom closet,' answered Sirius simply.

'Should I ask how he got there?'

'I wouldn't,' replied Peter.

James chuckled.

'Right,' said Remus, sounding disconcerted. 'Bring it here, then.'

Sirius handed the hair to Remus, who carefully placed it into the potion that he had poured into a goblet that James had stolen from the Great Hall.

The effect was immediate. The potion hissed loudly and frothed madly. A second later, it had turned into a light bronze colour.

James wrinkled his nose. 'I've got to drink that?' he asked.

'Well, technically you don't have to drink it,' said Remus fairly. 'You could just let Lily keep going out with Diggory—'

'—and then they'll grow up and have little Diggory clones—' interjected Peter.

'—who all wear the same tight pants—' added Sirius.

'Give it here,' grumbled James, holding his arm out for the goblet.

Remus placed the vial in his hand, and James brought it close to him, disgusted. He pinched his nose and drank the potion down in two large gulps. It tasted like rusted copper.

Immediately, James' insides began to write. He doubled over, feeling as though he was going to be sick. Then a burning sensation spread rapidly from his stomach to the very ends of his fingers and toes. He collapsed onto all fours and felt a horrible melting feeling, as the skin all over his body bubbled like hot wax. James could feel his mates' eyes on him, but he could not stop looking at his own hands. They began to grow; his fingers thickened, his nail broadened. His shoulders stretched outward a bit and James felt his hair shrink in.

There was a silence after the transformation in which Sirius, Remus and Peter gaped at their mate. Finally, Sirius spoke: 'That was bloody brilliant.'

James had not realized that he had fallen to the ground. He stood up, wiping his brow.

'How do I look,' he asked, his voice cracking with an entirely different tone.

'Exactly like Diggory,' said Peter, his eyes as wide as Gobstones. 'This stuff really works!'

'Of course it works,' said Remus brusquely. 'How do you feel, James?'

'I'm alright,' replied James. He glanced down at his new body. 'I've only got an hour, right?'

'Yeah,' replied Remus. 'Lily's in the library. She just told me she was working on that Herbology essay.'

'Right,' said James, pulling off his glasses and stowing them in his pockets. 'I'd better go, then.'

James—Amos—strolled out of the lavatory with a special kind of strut.

* * *

'Amos? Amos—!'

James froze at the sound of Lily's melodic voice in the air.

Amos? Oh, right. He was Diggory. James whirled around to find Lily standing between two rows of bookcases. His hand instinctively jumped to his hair.

'Alright, Ev—er—I mean, er—hi, Lily.' James felt a smile plaster itself onto his face, feeling oddly scandalous for calling her by her first name.

Lily regarded Amos—James—with a nervous look on her face as he approached her.

'Look,' she began, wringing her hands anxiously. 'I know we're broken up now...'

James started at the news. _Bloody hell, they were broken up?_ James felt a sort of relief wash over him with the coupled annoyance that he was stuck in Diggory's body for another fourty-five minutes.

'Er—Amos?'

Who was she calling—oh, right. He was Diggory.

'Sorry—er—Lily. What was it you were saying?'

'Well, I said that I was hoping we could still be mates,' mumbled Lily, looking at the ground. 'Because, as I had said, I think you're still a great bloke—just that we weren't—er—we weren't very much suited.'

James chuckled. What would Diggory do in this situation?

'Yeah, of course,' he said. He'd see to it that the two remained relatively friendly, anyway. Padfoot could do wonders with his wand.

'Great,' said Lily, dusting her hands on her skirt. 'I'll see you, then.'

Lily's shoulder brushed against the bookcase next to her and knocked to the ground a thick, yellow book.

Perhaps it was the fact that he was in a disguise. But suddenly, James' inhibitions, the ones that prevented him from doing anything truly rubbish (his generally pathetic behaviour was omitted), had disappeared, leaving him with an unexplainable boldness.

One second, James was reaching down with Lily to pick up the book, and the next, his lips were smashed against hers, one hand in her dark red hair and the other against the bookshelf behind her.

It was quick and fumbling, and there was a slight awkwardness about the situation, but it was something James had not experienced before. Perhaps it was the novelty of it—the fact that he was snogging Lily Evans, and she had not yet pushed him away—that had appealed to him. But for that moment, their blunders didn't register. It was natural, as easy as breathing, as though his mouth was made glide over hers like this.

Her hair smelled of vanilla and water lilies and James was reminded briefly of Amortentia, because it smelled just like her. But the Amortentia didn't matter—nothing mattered at that moment, except Lily Evans, whose fists had curled into the material of the front of his robes. An unfamiliar giddiness bubbled up from James' core.

When he finally broke away, he was facing a rather flustered and astonished Lily. She opened her mouth several times to say something but then closed it when she realized she didn't know what to say.

'Sorry,' he apologized quickly, if only for custom. He wasn't sorry—far from it, it fact. 'It's just that I've always wanted to do that.' James ran a hand through his hair again. 'Don't worry, though,' he added, remembering his identity as Diggory in an afterthought. 'I know we're broken up. I won't do it again. I—er—I've got to go, alright? See you later, Lily!'

In fear of risking his identity and ruining perhaps one of his best memories, James rushed past her and round the corner, hiding the grin that just may permanently be etched onto his face. .

Lily didn't move for a good few moments after he rounded the corner, her heart pounding rapidly. She'd always expected her first kiss to be with someone she truly cared about, not the paranoid boy she'd broken up with the day before—her family's old-fashioned beliefs had been deeply instilled in her.

Yet, a smile inched up her face as she glanced past her shoulder at the spot round the bookshelf where Amos had disappeared. If anything, that Amos Diggory was one damn good snog.

* * *

'Prongs? Prongs. Oi, Prongs. PRONGS!'

'Prongs, you prat, quit staring at Evans—I've been trying to get your attention for about five minutes,' said Sirius, sounding annoyed as he fell on the sofa across from James in the Gryffindor common room.

James blinked. 'No, you haven't, Padfoot, you just got here. I saw you come through the Portrait hole just a few seconds ago.'

'Shut up,' said Sirius curtly, 'and get that stupid grin off your face already. You've been like that for weeks and it's starting to bug me. Especially since you won't even tell us what happened with Evans in the library.'

Lily turned her head from across the common room at the sound of her name. When Sirius only grinned and waved at her, she gave him an annoyed glare and then returned to her conversation with Marlene Sanders. James knew she was helping her with the Potions assignment due the next day.

Sirius had just returned from a detention he'd had with Professor McGonagall. He'd jokingly called the Transfiguration professor 'mum' in class. This did not go over very well, especially considering the fact that Sirius had cursed his mother's name the day before at breakfast. He had received a Howler from her for jinxing the Slytherin table's pumpkin juice and having every Slytherin speak in a feminine, high-pitched voice for the rest of the day. Because it had been plainly obvious that he did not think too highly of his mother, Sirius was assigned two days of detention for addressing McGonagall by that name.

'What were you saying then, Padfoot?' asked James, turning his attention towards Sirius and away from Lily Evans.

'Oh, forget it,' said Sirius, sounding grouchy as he pulled out a quill and parchment from his robes.

'No, really, what's wrong? Is McGonagall really ticked off?'

Sirius snorted. 'Mum? No,' he said, starting to grin now; James followed suit. 'I just saw Reg hanging out with those Slytherin blokes just now.'

'Ah…'

'He's such a stupid berk—doesn't know what he's getting himself into. Mum's thrilled, obviously, knowing that he's made plenty of pureblood mates.' Sirius said the word 'pureblood' in a particularly scathing tone of voice.

'And then there's Snivellus,' continued Sirius. 'Have you noticed how he's been following us around lately?'

James' eyes lit up. 'Yeah! During the nights, mostly.' James dropped his voice. 'Do you think he knows? About Moony?' he asked.

'Snivellus? That greasy-haired slime doesn't have a clue,' assured Sirius. 'I'll bet he wishes he knew what we were up to. And wouldn't that be fun—finding out that Hogwarts hides a werewolf in the Shrieking Shack.' Sirius grinned mischievously.

James laughed. 'The prat would be scared out of his flobberworm boxer shorts!'

Sirius choked with laughter. 'I can really picture it!'

* * *

'Remus, are you all right?'

Lily leant forward across the Gryffindor table to examine Remus with a concerned look on her face.

Remus sat up straight and displaced his gaze from his cold porridge to Lily. 'Er—of course, Lily. I'm fine.'

A furrow appeared between Lily's eyebrows. 'You look sick… are you sure you're okay?'

'Yeah, I've just been—'

'Oi, Evans!'

Lily's head turned instinctively towards the sound. When she registered the new arrival, she shook her head in an exasperated manner, waved goodbye to Remus and then got up off her bench to leave the Great Hall.

Moments later, James joined Remus at the table.

'Oi, what'd I say?' he asked, putting his hands up in a defensive manner.

Remus chuckled. 'I think you scared her away…'

'What else is new… So, Remus, I was thinking… hey, are you alright?'

Remus sat up straighter. 'Of course I am,' he said quickly.

'But you look so— it's the full moon, isn't it? Three more days, is it?'

'Yeah-don't worry, James, I'm fine.'

'Right, well I was thinking – this time when you transform, do you think we could do a bit of exploring?'

Remus looked confused. 'What do you mean, exploring?'

'Well, you know… get out of the Shrieking Shack. Go see Hogsmeade.'

'James…'

'I know what you're going to say… It's dangerous. But look, you'll have me and Padfoot and Wormtail. Between Sirius and I, there's no way you could do anything dangerous—we're fairly big when we transform. Besides, it'll be fun. Wouldn't you love to see Hogsmeade at night?'

Remus appeared tired as he shook his head slowly. 'I don't know, James. It's too soon. I mean, you lot only just became Animagi. A lot could go wrong.'

'Yeah, but –'

'–how about next time, then?'

James considered him. 'Well, alright, then,' he said finally. 'I'll hold you to that. Next month it is.'

* * *

'I'll see you later, Severus!' Lily called as she left Potions with Kalah and Alice—she had Charms immediately afterward. Severus gave a half-hearted wave as he watched her disappear round the corner.

'Alright, _Snivellus_?'

Severus jumped and whirled round to find Sirius and Peter exiting the dungeons after him. He sneered at them. 'Don't you have somewhere to be, Black? Babysitting, perhaps? Though, now I think about it, I don't think it's a baby you watch over once a month.'

Sirius blinked and turned to Peter. 'You know, Pete, I don't quite like his tone.'

'He's very rude,' agreed Peter, inching forward in eager anticipation for what appeared to be a conflict.

'He is, isn't he?' mused Sirius.

Severus slowly began to reach into the pockets of his robes.

'I wonder, Snivellus—' said Sirius suddenly, holding up his wand so abruptly that Severus froze—Sirius had performed a full Body-Bind curse. '—I wonder if you're curious about where we go.'

Severus started, attempting to free himself from the curse. When he realized that he couldn't, he licked his upper lip slowly. 'Yeah, I am. Why is it that you, Pettigrew and Potter sneak out every night of the full moon?'

Sirius gazed idly at his wand, turning it over in his hand. 'Observant, are we?'

Severus' lips curled into a sneer. 'And what happens to Lupin every month? You know, I saw him crossing the grounds with Pomfrey last full moon. I've come up with a little theory, you see…'

Peter glanced nervously from Severus to Sirius, troubled by the amount of information that the former had discovered.

But Sirius only laughed. 'You're delusional, Snivellus. The potions fumes have muddled with your greasy little head.'

'I'm not delusional,' growled Severus through gritted teeth.

'Besides,' added Sirius, with a carefree laugh. 'It's fairly obvious that following us isn't working out for you. You sure get lost quite a bit in this castle, Snivelly.'

Severus glared at Sirius and made another attempt to move.

'In any case,' added Sirius, tossing a grin at Peter next to him, 'if you really wanted to find out, you'd have to go straight to the Whomping Willow. It covers a tunnel that leads to where we go… And all you'd have to do is prod the knot on the tree with a stick to get it to freeze.'

'Sirius…' mumbled Peter next to him, appearing more nervous than ever.

'Though,' Sirius pressed on maliciously, 'it's probably true what they say—that Slytherins are nothing but cowards. Won't risk their necks for anything. I'm sure even you don't want to find out what we do that bad.'

Sirius let out a loud, bark-like laugh. He walked past Severus, pounding his shoulder against his as he did. Peter followed quickly behind. Sirius flicked his wand before he turned the corner and Severus collapsed onto his knees, his hands supporting him on the ground in front of him.

'Sleep well, Snivellus.'

* * *

'The knot, prod the knot,' said James desperately. It was a cold November night and outside the castle by the Whomping Willow James and Sirius waited underneath the glowing orb in the sky for Wormtail to freeze the tree.

'Hur—ry, damn—it,' pressed Sirius, the words coming out chopped through the chattering of his teeth.

Finally, there was a 'pop'; moments later, the Whomping Willow froze—Wormtail had accomplished his task.

James and Sirius crawled through the tunnel quickly, eager to escape the harsh wind, to reach their goal inside.

'Just think,' said James, clenching and unclenching his fists as he began to thaw. They were beginning to climb upward. 'This time next month, we'll be going to Hogsmeade.'

Sirius raised his eyebrows in surprise. 'No joke?'

'Yeah,' said James, starting to get breathless. It appeared as though the tunnel were getting longer and longer each time they crawled through it. 'Moony's agreed. Think about it, when we're Animagi, we can control a werewolf easily. And because we're there, Moony'll be able to think straight as well. So why keep ourselves cooped up in that hut when we can explore Hogsmeade? I've always wanted to see what the village looks like at night, anyway.'

Wormtail squealed next to him, still in his rat form—the small size helped him move faster.

They were nearing the shack now.

'Excellent,' said Sirius, eyes glittering excitedly in the dark. 'I was getting tired of the boring old scenery anyway.'

James chuckled as he pushed open the door to the Shrieking Shack. Inside, Remus was sitting on the nearby sofa, or what was left of it, reading a book casually. James surveyed him.

'Moony, you're about to turn into a murderous werewolf, and you're reading?'

Remus smiled but didn't take his eyes off his book. 'Hold on, I want to finish this chapter first.'

Sirius rolled his eyes as he looked around. 'Oi, this shack gets shabbier and shabbier every month.'

'Five minutes,' said Wormtail, his voice carrying a high-pitched residue immediately after transforming back into his human form. He glanced up from the oversized, rather deformed-looking watch on his wrist.

Finally, Remus stood up and closed his book. He walked over to a cabinet, bent down and opened a hidden drawer. He slipped the book in and closed the flap shut.

'I've got to keep it in a safe place,' he explained, shrugging at a wide-eyed Sirius. 'In case I damage it, you know. It's the library's book. Do you have any idea what Madam Pince would do to me if she found out I damaged it?'

'Murder,' put in Peter.

Sirius grinned. 'Oi, Prongs, but did I tell you? I ran into Snivellus the other day!'

James grinned, turning to him. 'And? Curse him to oblivion, did you?'

Sirius chuckled. 'No,' he said. 'I wanted to, though… the nosy git was wondering where we went every full moon night.'

Remus stood up straight. 'Really? Does he know? What did he say?'

'Don't worry, Moony, he's too thick, the berk,' said Sirius airily.

Remus began to shudder now. James, Sirius and Peter stepped back instinctively. They had started to get careless with their Animagi transformations, changing into their forms thirty seconds or even a minute into Remus' werewolf transformation. There had even been an occasion when Peter almost got attacked, becoming too terrified to transform. If it hadn't been for James and Sirius, who had stepped in and bought him some time, Peter would not have been there with them that month.

As though remembering the incident, Peter transformed into a rat with a shudder.

Sirius laughed and turned his attention toward James. 'Oi, Prongs, remember a while back when we were talking about Snivellus? About how hilarious it would be if he were to find out about Moony?'

James paused, a sense of dread filling him. He glanced at Moony, who was starting to growl now, and nodded numbly. 'Yeah? What about it?'

Sirius laughed. 'I told him about the Whomping Willow.'

The colour drained from James' face. 'What?'

'Yeah,' said Sirius, laughing lightly and watching in amusement as James' face changed from indifference to horror. 'I told him to prod the knot and follow the tunnel if he wanted to see what we were doing so badly.' Sirius' face became concerned. 'What's wrong, Prongs?'

'Do you hear yourself?' demanded James. 'What do you think is wrong? Snape's going to crawl through that tunnel and meet a werewolf!' James indicated to Remus frantically—he was halfway through his transformation.

'But, Prongs, you said –'

'It was a joke, Sirius!' said James desperately. 'Look, I hate Snape as much as you do, Padfoot, but I don't want him dead!'

Sirius blinked. 'Well, I don't think he's actually going to do it, James,' he said quietly.

'Snivellus? Are you kidding me? He's 'too thick', remember? He probably doesn't even realize that he's running to his death!'

It was as though Sirius had woken up from a trance, because a moment later, he had a look of horror on his face. 'Bloody hell.'

James pivoted on his heel abruptly. 'I've got to go back,' he said.

'But James, Moony's almost done his transforma –'

A loud howl filled the room.

'Quick,' yelled James. 'Turn into your Animagi form!'

'What!' yelled back Sirius. 'What about you?'

'Just do it!'

There was a 'pop'—Sirius had transformed into a great, big dog.

Wood was cracking across the room now; Moony was destroying chairs. One chair whizzed right past James, grazing his left cheek.

Moony continued his rampage, working his inexplicable rage. But a moment later, he paused, a sharp odour filling his nostrils. He smelled blood. Human blood. Moony turned slowly, focusing his bloodshot eyes on a very pale James.

James' mind was racing. He had to move fast. His best mate had made a stupid mistake; his enemy was climbing through a tunnel to meet his death at the hands of his other best mate—and James had to save him. But he would have to be in his human form to do so. Prongs was too large as a stag to fit through the tunnel, and Wormtail was nowhere to be seen at the moment to do the task for him. Now Moony was looking at him with murderous eyes. If James didn't get away fast enough, he would be dead before Snape.

Before James could take a breath, Moony charged. James whipped out his want, ready to jinx him long enough to get himself out the door. Only now did the exit door appear so far away.

Before James could do anything to stop Moony, Sirius appeared in his path. There was a large growling sound—James sprinted to the door, but a loud slashing sound, followed by a roar, made him turn round again. Padfoot had a scar across his right arm. It was gushing out blood. The werewolf began to drag the dog toward the door where James stood frozen.

'Padfoot,' croaked James. But the dog, which appeared limp for only one moment was back on its feet the next. It lunged at Moony, holding it back in restraint. It barked once—James took this as his signal to leave.

He wrenched the door open, preparing himself for escape. But what he saw on the other side made his blood turn cold.

Severus Snape was a mere feet away from the shack, his eyes goggling at James, the large, dangerous-looking werewolf, and the large, black dog holding it back.

Moony was out of control now. It swung an arm out at Sirius, smashing him against the wall. It began to advance upon the two humans before him, the scent of human blood driving him to madness—James and Snape began to back away, both brandishing wands.

Suddenly, Moony howled in pain, retreated a few steps and whipped round. James caught sight of Wormtail hanging from the werewolf's tail. Moony whipped around rapidly and Wormtail lost his grip, smashing against the opposite wall.

'Sorry, Moony,' whispered James, holding up his wand—a red jet of light hit the werewolf square in the face. Moony recoiled immediately, giving James the opportunity to shut the door and charm the door, making it impenetrable.

Without hesitation, he turned round and ran in the other direction, pausing only to shout over his shoulder at Snape: 'Hurry up!'

Snape did not need to be told twice. He followed James immediately, eyes agog.

'I knew it,' he said breathlessly as he jogged labouriously. 'I knew you were hiding a werewolf. Just wait until Professor Dumbledore finds out.' Snape's face had become oddly glee at the thought of James and his mates getting into trouble.

'Dumbledore knows, you gormless codger,' said James briskly. He avoided his gaze from Snape. This was bad. Everything had gone wrong. No one was supposed to find out about Moony. Yet, the one person James wanted least to find out about the secret had witnessed it all. Did he know that James, Sirius and Peter were all Animagi? Had he realized that Sirius was the great, black dog, that Peter was the rat? No one had transformed in Snape's presence, so there was no way Snape knew about their Animagi at that moment. But how long would it take for him to connect the dots?

'Dumbledore knows?' gasped Snape, appearing absolutely dumbfounded. 'How?'

'He knew when Remus was admitted to Hogwarts,' spat James with a scathing tone of voice. 'Why do you think the Whomping Willow was planted here? It was to keep away nosy berks like you.' James' mouth ran on its own; his mind was still back at the Shrieking Shack. He had left an injured Padfoot and Wormtail there with Moony. Were they alright?

James shook his head, banishing the dreadful images at the forefront of his mind. Surely they were okay now. After all, once he and Snape left, Moony would have stopped sensing human presence—he'd have returned to his proper state of mind.

But poor Moony. James was sure that tomorrow morning, Remus was going to beat himself up about that night's events. And now, there was no way he was going to agree to leave the shack next month…

James pushed aside his disappointment grudgingly. Going to Hogsmeade didn't matter anymore. First, he had to get out of this tunnel. Snape was sure the tell Dumbledore about what he saw—James with a live werewolf. But as long as Snape didn't know about their abilities to transform into Animagi, James could always pass Padfoot off as a pet dog—one he'd found in Hogsmeade and decided to smuggle into the castle.

James glanced past his shoulder at Snape—he'd been silent for a while now, looking dead ahead with the same, pale, mildly-shocked expression on his face.

'What were you doing over there anyway? With that _thing_?' demanded Snape finally.

James cringed at the word. 'Don't call Remus that,' he spat sharply. 'And I—I wanted to check up on him,' he lied. 'Remus wasn't feeling well this past week and I figured it had to do with his transformations. I just wanted to make sure he was OK.'

Snape scoffed. 'How thick can you get?' he hissed. 'Honestly Potter, I knew you had a big fat ego, but even that's being a bit optimistic. You thought you could take on a werewolf, you mindless bloke?"

'Shut your mouth, Snivellus,' barked James. 'At least I've got mates to look after.'

Snape tensed and opened his mouth to retort. James cut him off.

'—all you've got is your pure-blood obsessed Slytherin buddies who tend to look after themselves rather than their so-called mates.'

'Shut up, Potter.'

James smirked, knowing he'd hit a nerve. They were nearing the Whomping Willow now.

'The professors even find you annoying. The only person who can stand to even associate with you is Evans,' he added bitterly. 'And that's only because she's nice to almost everyone.' _Almost. _James himself was the sole exception to that statement, a fact that irked him further. 'And you know what?' he pressed on viciously. 'You don't even deserve her being your mate—she ought to drop you like a rat.'

There was a pause on both sides.

'You take that back, Potter.' Snape's voice came out low and harsh, his had gripping his wand tighter.

James grinned mercilessly, brandishing his own wand. 'No.'

They'd stopped walking now. Each pointing his wand at the other maliciously.

'Is there a problem, boys?'

James and Snape whipped round, pointing their wands at the source of the noise immediately. But there was no need, because it was Professor Dumbledore who was smiling pleasantly back at them.

* * *

'Well,' said Dumbledore, surveying both James and Severus over the top of his half-moon spectacles. They were at Dumbledore's office and Severus had explained what he'd seen. James had told Dumbledore that he had been worried about his mate, and although he had felt as though Dumbledore may not have believed him, the Headmaster did not press the matter any further.

'Mr Snape,' said Dumbledore. 'I'm going to need for you not to repeat what you saw to anyone.'

'But sir –!' exclaimed Severus.

'Listen to me, Severus. I was well aware of Mr Lupin's state when I admitted him into this school. It would not do to invite unwanted disorder into an already disorderly castle.' Dumbledore was still smiling pleasantly.

Severus opened his mouth to protest, but then closed it an instant later, appearing dejected. 'Yes, sir,' he said.

It was only when they'd left Dumbledore's office that James allowed himself to grin broadly. Snape was brooding behind him, glaring at the back of James' head while wishing him a painful death. James disregarded it; he had to go back to the Shrieking Shack and see how his mates were doing. Now, if only the greasy-haired bugger would stop following him…

* * *

It was six-thirty in the morning. Sirius and Peter had hidden on the upstairs floor of the Shrieking Shack while the nurse's assistant, Madam Pomfrey, arrived to fetch Remus' unconscious body. The transformation into a werewolf was always so tiring that Remus ended up passed out on the Shack floor the next morning. McGonagall had arrived early that morning to deliver him to the Hospital Wing. Sirius and Peter arrived there themselves shortly afterward, just in time for Remus to come to. Remus was paler than ever.

'What happened?' he gasped immediately, his eyes agog as he recovered from the depths of unconsciousness. 'S—something went wrong—wha—where's James!'

Sirius was silently brooding, and it was Peter that spoke, his voice thick with a tone of bitterness. 'He's with Snape.'

'Snape!' hissed Remus, as though his memory had been sparked. Peter could practically see the gears shifting in his friend's head as he attempted to put together the events of last night. 'What the bloody hell was Snape doing over—'

The door to the infirmary slid open and a steely-faced James Potter stormed in. He didn't acknowledge Remus or Peter's presence. Instead, he headed straight towards Sirius, wound up his arm and—

WHACK.

Sirius' head snapped back as his jaw made contact with the force of James' knuckles. He didn't even put up a fight; rather, Sirius stared at the ground with a fixed sort of gaze, his own knuckles white against the backdrop of the Hospital Wing's floor. The expression on his face was more serious than anyone had ever seen it.

Peter jumped up from his seat at the shock of seeing Sirius decked soundly by his best mate.

But James paid no attention. He was livid. It'd taken him ages to finally rid himself of Snape after the incidents of the night before, and he had serious doubts whether he was going to keep his mouth shut about the whole thing.

'You bloody fool,' whispered James.

Finally, Sirius lifted his face, and pain was etched over all his features. 'I—I wasn't thinking—'

'Damn right you weren't thinking!' bellowed James, and the volume was so high that the nurse, Madame Lambridge appeared from the edge of the curtain separating Remus' bed from a nearby patient's.

'Oi, you lot!' she said sternly. 'Mind your voices else I'll have to make you leave! I've got patients trying to rest!'

Peter gave her an apologetic grin and nodded his agreement, but James and Sirius ignored her entirely. Remus waited until she disappeared before fishing his wand out from inside his robes and muttering a spell under his breath—the area was now sound-proof from the outside.

James lowered his voice anyway, but it still carried the same venom. 'Don't apologize to me,' he spat. 'Apologize to Remus. It was him you almost got killed. Do you realize that if Moony had hurt Snape, the Ministry could have him put down? Did you stop to consider that your actions have consequences that affect the rest of us? At least if Moony had attacked one of us, we'd have kept our mouths shut! But _Snape_, Sirius?'

Sirius had grown incredibly pale. He swore under his breath.

'That's right,' agreed James, his expression cold.

'What happened?' asked Remus, his voice business-like after having witnessed the conversation between his best mates.

James scoffed at turned away. Remus' expression became panicky in response. 'What happened, you lot?'

It was Peter once again who finally spoke up. 'Snape knows.'

'No!' Remus whipped his head about, looking from Peter to James and then to Sirius. His mates did not contradict him.

Sirius collapsed into the chair next to Remus' bed, sunk his face into his hands and swore. 'I'm sorry,' he croaked. 'I wasn't thinking.'

James ran a hand through his hair, his back still facing his mates.

'What's going to happen?' asked Peter after awhile. He was pacing back and forth in the small section of the Hospital Wing.

'Is he going to talk?' asked Remus. His voice seemed to have gained its usual tone of rationality.

James finally turned back tot hem and shook his head. 'No. Dumbledore found us. He's ordered Snape to keep his mouth shut.'

Sirius' head snapped up in shock. 'Really?' he whispered. Peter had stopped his pacing; his face had cracked into a grin.

'What about—' Remus hesitated, a furrow still between his eyebrows. 'What about your Animagi?'

James shook his head. 'He doesn't know,' he said, and Remus sighed with relief. James turned to Sirius. 'You hear that, you git? You got lucky. Nobody's hurt.'

Sirius nodded slowly before turning to Remus. 'I'm sorry, mate,' he croaked. 'Merlin, I'm a rotten blighter.'

Remus nodded his acknowledgement. 'I forgive you, Sirius.'

Sirius gave him a small smile.

'Although...' continued James loudly. Sirius' straight face returned. 'Snape's told Dumbledore that he's seen a black dog.' Sirius blinked. 'I've told him that I've adopted a pet dog from Hogsmeade and have smuggled it into the castle. So—' The expression on James' face transformed in such rapid speed from seriousness to wicked hilarity, '—welcome home, Snuffles, you big ol' mutt, you.'

Peter let out a whoop of laughter and Remus let out an appreciative chuckle.

A small smile tugged at the corner of Sirius' lips. 'Snuffles, eh?' he asked dubiously, to which James only grinned back. 'I suppose I had that one coming,' he said, shaking his head slowly, the expression on his face cracked into a wide grin.

James took a step toward him. 'Damn right,' he said, holding out a fist to Sirius against which the latter smashed his own closed fist.

Remus watched the exchange from his bed, his small smile taking over his face at the comforting knowledge that James and Sirius could never be cross with each other for very long.

* * *

'What's happened to your cheek, James?'

James' head snapped up hopefully at the sound but his heart sank when he saw that it was only Violet Summers who was addressing him.

'Oh, nothing,' he lied. 'I fell.' That morning at breakfast, James was sporting a grazed cheek, Sirius had a bandaged arm and a bruised chin, Remus had scratches all over his face and Peter had a tooth that was looking oddly wiggly.

James was almost certain now that they would never be allowed into Hogsmeade during full moon nights. Not after the fiasco that had been the night before.

Of the four of them, Remus' countenance was the worst—he'd allowed his best mates to become Animagi for his sake, and he'd allowed them to come to the Shrieking Shack where he transformed every night of the full moon. And now they were all injured and it was his fault. After that night's events, guilt and regret formed his entire person. Remus had spent the morning apologizing to his mates, who insisted they were fine.

'Whoa, what's happened to you lot?'

Lily, Kalah and Alice had arrived at the Gryffindor table for breakfast. It was Kalah who had spoken.

James shook his head noncommittally. 'Brawl in the boys' dormitory,' he muttered under his breath. It was partly true anyway. James caught Lily's eyes briefly; she had a curious expression on her face, one that James spent the next thirty seconds examining. Was it concern?

'What are you gawking at, Potter?' demanded Lily after awhile, appearing a bit flushed. James snapped out of his transfixed state. 'Stop staring at me like that. It's creepiy.'

'Sorry,' apologized James automatically.

By the end of that day, the news had spread that James Potter had saved Severus Snape from the ghosts and monsters that resided in the Shrieking Shack. James never knew how this information had been circulated, but Sirius had confessed that he suspected Wormtail.

* * *

'That Transfiguration midterm was hard,' mused Lily as she passed through the Entrance Hall with Severus.

Severus nodded in agreement. 'But I bet you did really well anyway.'

Lily smiled. 'I hope you're right. How did you do?'

Severus made a face.

'Not too well,' he said. 'You know Transfiguration isn't my best subject.'

Lily shrugged. 'Well, that's okay, Sev—nobody's good at everything. I'll tell you what—I'll give you a few pointers. Transfiguration isn't so hard, you know. Anyone could do it if they tried. Look at Potter—he's a complete idiot most of the time, but he and Black are at the top of our year in that class!'

Severus flinched. He abhorred it whenever Potter was mentioned—the incident occurred nearly everyday. And after what had happened by the Shrieking Shack a while back, he hated Potter even more. If only Dumbledore hadn't forbidden Severus to tell everyone about what he'd seen…

Lily and Severus continued their slow pace as they left the castle—they had no particular destination in mind.

'We have a Potions assignment coming up soon,' said Severus. 'Do you want to be my partner?'

Severus had begun to sit with the Slytherins in their Potions class more often now after habing being forced by Slughorn to do so one day when Lily was sick in the Hospital Wing. The next class, they'd been working on an extremely hard potion, and Kalah had asked to be Lily's partner. Lily had obliged, noting that Severus did not seem to mind working with his fellow Slytherins anyway. Soon, it'd become routine, and Lily found herself working with Kalah every Potions class.

'Well,' she replied. 'I would, but I've already promised Kalah that I'd be her partner…'

Severus pouted. 'But we haven't worked together for such a long time.'

Lily appeared apologetic. 'I know, Sev, but I've already promised, you see.'

'Well, just tell Ramnath you want to be my partner.'

Lily sighed with exasperation as she walked across the threshold of the castle to the cool air outside. 'Ican't Sev! She helped me with my DADA essay last week, even though she had to help her sister study for N.E.. I can't just tell her I won't be her partner!'

'Well then, why don't you just sit with me?' demanded Severus. 'You never sit with me anymore.'

Lily hesitated. Severus often sat with his mates in Slytherin, who Lily admittedly did not like. They were shady characters, she'd come to realize, and there had been many rumours circulating about their experience with the Dark Arts. In any case, Lily would rather sit with her fellow Gryffindors than with the Slytherins. 'I—'

_'—__But I thought we were supposed to be friends?' cut off Severus. 'Best friends?'_

_'__We are, Sev,' insisted Lily, 'but I don't like some of the people you're hanging round with!' Severus appeared taken aback by her statement. 'I'm sorry, but I detest Avery and Mulciber! Mulciber! What do you see in him, Sev, he's creepy! D'you know what he tried to do to Mary MacDonald the other day?'_

A few days earlier, Mary had burst into the girls' dormitory in tears. Avery and Mulciber had caught her in the corridors and called her all sorts of horrid names. Lily was aware of term 'Mudblood', and while to her, a Muggle-born, the word did not hold any particular negative connotations, in the environment of Hogwarts, it was seen as quite insulting. When Mary had attempted to leave the Slytherins' company, Mulciber had conjured a large snake, scaring her half to death.

_Lily reached a pillar and leaned against it, looking up into the thin, sallow face. _

_'__That was nothing,__'__ said Severus, though he knew it wasn't. 'It was a laugh, that's all –'_

_'__It was Dark Magic, and if you think that__'__s funny –'_

_'__What about the stuff Potter and his mates get up to?' demanded Severus. His colour rose again as he said it, unable, it seemed, to hold in his resentment._

Lily blinked. It was beginning to irk her how everything was about Potter. Every conversation, every matter, every problem, every conversation. It was the reason she'd broken up with Amos in the first place.

_'__What__'__s Potter got to do with anything?__'__ said Lily._

_'__They sneak out at night.__'__ Severus paused, debating whether or not to tell Lily what he'd seen the other night. 'There's something weird about that Lupin. Where does he keep going?' said Severus carefully, hoping Lily's interest would be piqued. _

_'__He__'__s ill,__'__ said Lily. __'__They say he__'__s ill __–'_

_'__Every month at the full moon?__'__ persisted Severus._

_'__I know your theory,__'__ said Lily, and she sounded cold._ Indeed, Severus had confessed his suspicions to her weeks earlier. Lily didn't care whether it was true or not—sometimes she felt as though Severus' prejudice against Potter and Black extended too far. After all, Remus had never done anything wrong to harm either Lily or Severus. _'Why are you so obsessed with them anyway? Why do you care what they're doing at night?' demanded Lily. _

_'__I__'__m just trying to show you they__'__re not as wonderful as everyone seems to think they are,' _gazing at her intently.

_'__They don__'__t use Dark Magic, though,__'_ said Lily desperately. She dropped her voice, remembering a particular bit of information that had spread through the school days earlier. _'And you're being really ungrateful. I heard what happened the other night. You went sneaking down that tunnel by the Whomping Willow, and James Potter saved you from whatever's down there –'_

_Snape's whole face contorted and he sputtered, 'Saved? Saved?_' he demanded, outraged. As far as he was concerned, James Potter was the most self-obsessed berk ever to have existed—hah, as if he was going to get off looking like the saviour! '_You think he was playing the hero? He was saving his neck and his friends' too! You're not going to – I won't let you –'_

_'__Let__ me? Let me?' Lily's bright green eyes were slits. Severus backtracked at one._

_'__I didn__'__t mean __–__ I just don__'__t want to see you made a fool of – He fancies, you, James Potter fancies you!' The words seemed wrenched from him against his will. __'__And he__'__s not__…__ everyone thinks__…__ big Quidditch hero –' Severus' bitterness and dislike were rendering him incoherent, and Lily's eyebrows were travelling farther and farther up her forehead._

Severus' ramblings were rubbish. Surely he knew that Lily loathed the very essence of James Potter?

_'__I know James Potter__'__s an arrogant toerag,__'__ she said, cutting across Severus. 'I don't need you to tell me that. But Mulciber's and Avery's idea of humour is just evil. Evil, Sev. I don't understand how you can be friends with them.'_

Severus blinked, and his whole body relaxed. As they continued walking across the castle grounds, the talk slowly turned to the upcoming Christmas holidays, and Lily and Severus began to discuss the sorts of chocolates each enjoyed best during the soft, snowy season.

[Rowling, Deathly Hallows, p. 355-356]

* * *

Very soon, the snow had begun to fall gently upon the castle. Everyone was talking about what they were going to be doing during the Christmas holidays, and students were discussing whether or not they were going to stay at the castle.

James' parents were visiting friends in Australia that Christmas, and James, who did not feel like travelling, decided to remain at Hogwarts for the break.

It was just as well, because Sirius had finally managed to convince his parents to allow him to stay at Hogwarts for the break. Staying at home had become unbearable during the breaks, especially in light of Regulus' gaining popularity amongst the Slytherins. Sirius had noticed his younger brother changing throughout the years, no doubt due to the influence of his fellow house mates.

It began innocently enough, with Regulus going quiet whenever the names of the Muggle-borns in his year were mentioned, but soon, many Christmas and summer breaks later, Sirius found him wrinkling his nose in disgust, or even tossing a derogatory comment or two alongside his mother.

Sirius often wondered whether the transformation was partly his fault, whether his avoidance of Regulus and his fellow Slytherins had pushed his younger brother to seek acceptance elsewhere. He never thought too much of it, though—he was careful to stop before he got carried away. So often at night, when he stared up at the ceiling of the boys' dormitories, when he wondered whether Regulus was changing, transforming at the precise moment, whether he could have—could _still_—do something to prevent it, he'd call out Prongs' name.

James was always the last one in the dormitory to fall asleep, so his reply was always clear and loud. Then they'd have a nonsensical talk about their favourite sweet at Honeydukes or the flavour of Bertie Botts' Every Flavour Beans that they would pay to see Filch eat, or the prank they were going to launch during the Christmas break... finally, Sirius would drift off to sleep, and the thoughts of his younger brother and his progressive descent into the depths of Slytherin ideals, would all be forgotten.

Unlike James and Sirius, Remus and Peter were going home for the holidays. Remus' mother got rather depressed during the Christmas time (it was then that Remus had been bitten), and had always insisted Remus coming home for the break. Peter's parents were heading off to one country or another during the holidays; this time, they were heading to Russia, and Peter, who always loved to travel, was eager to join them.

Lily, having promised Petunia that she wouldn't be home for the Christmas break, was experiencing a mild depression. Her favourte holiday of the year was Christmas, and she didn't think it'd be the same without her family. Severus was going home for the break; he'd offered to stay behind and keep Lily's company, but she'd refused. After all, there was no sense in him ruining his holidays just for her. Marlene and Alice weren't staying behind at the castle either. When Lily had asked Alice about it, Alice had gotten quite jumpy and insisted that she was going home to spend some time with her family. Alice had been quite jumpy for the past few weeks, but Lily assumed it was because of the upcoming O.W.L.s. Alice came from a whole family tree wizards , was expected to excel in the exams, considering the fact that she came from an ancient, well-known Wizarding name. It was quite a bit of pressure on her.

On a positive note, or so it was to Lily, Kalah was staying behind at the castle as well. Her older sister, Neera, was studying for her N.E.W.T.s to be taken later that year and her parents, who'd always been a special sort of strict and overprotective, had not allowed Kalah to ride the train home alone.

On the last day before the Christmas break began, Professor Slughorn announced that he was going to hold a special Christmas party on Christmas Eve for his students that were staying for the holidays. Marlene had suggested that he was holding this get-together for the sole reason that Lily was not going home for the holidays—an idea that the latter was quick to deny vehemently.

* * *

On the second morning of the Christmas break, Kalah Ramnath was the first student at breakfast, a fact that alone should have been very telling of her distressed state of mind. It was even more telling, when she didn't immediately pick up the chocolate chip muffin that she always ate every morning.

Sirius made it down to the Great Hall shortly after Kalah to find her at the table, with her head in her hands. He was quick to comment.

'Oi, dying there, Ramnath?' he asked, his tone light and conversational.

'Oh, yes,' murmured Kalah, and then, as though she'd awaken from a trance, glanced up at Sirius. 'What do you want, Sirius? I'm having a midlife crisis.'

Sirius took a seat across from her at the table. 'A bit too young for that, don't you think?'

Kalah gave him a wry smile. 'Not with my incredibly reduced life span.' Then, she jerked her head towards the empty space next to Sirius. 'Where's your mate? Not joined at the hip as usual, I see.'

Sirius ignored the jibe. 'Sleeping in,' he said with a shrug. 'James is a right prat in the morning, and I was hungry. So what's this about a reduced lifespan?'

Kalah nodded. She'd always had an openness about her, one that made her rather comfortable in discussing her problems with her peers. 'I reckon my parents are going to kill me. Or drop me out of school.'

Sirius let out a bark of laughter. 'Failed History of Magic, did you? Figure Hogwarts' going to chuck you for that?'

Kalah grinned momentarily at that before tossing him a reproachful look. 'I did not! And if I were going to get chucked, it'd be for plagiarism _by association_, you rotten prat. I saw your last Herbology paper, it was almost word for word what I'd written!'

Sirius tapped his temple with an index finger knowingly. 'Great minds,' he hummed.

Lily chose that moment to stroll into the Great Hall, alongside a small, sandy-haired Hufflepuff boy, who was clutching his elbow and gazing up at her bewilderedly. She parted with him with a wave before she reached Kalah, and he rushed off to the end of the table, where a group of his mates were calling to him.

'Morning,' chimed Lily as she sat at the table next to Kalah. She gave Sirius a customary nod of the head, to which he raised a hand in acknowledgement.

'What was that about?' he asked, nodding toward the Hufflepuff boy.

Lily made a face. 'He got into a scuffle with a bunch of older kids near the Entrance Hall,' she said flatly. 'I saw them when I was coming in after visiting Hagrid.'

'Ah, Hagrid!' echoed Sirius joyfully. 'How is he, the old chap?'

Lily didn't answer him, but rather regarded Kalah next to her, who had her head in her hands and was gazing at the table. Lily raised an eyebrow and gave Sirius a look so as to ask him what had happened.

'Midlife crisis,' he said tonelessly.

The corners of Lily's mouth twitched and Kalah lifted her head, as though she'd just noticed her presence. 'Morning, Lily,' she groaned. 'Have I ever told you what a brilliant mate you are?'

'You could stand to mention it more,' responded Lily cheekily.

'I just thought I should tell you before I drop out of Hogwarts.'

Lily scoffed. 'No, you're not, Kalah, don't be ridiculous—'

Kalah let her hands fall from her head and bang onto the table loudly, startling the group of Hufflepuffs sitting at its end. She tossed them a sheepish apologetic smile before turning back to Lily and saying with an entirely serious tone of voice: 'My parents are pulling me out of Hogwarts.'

Lily had gone pale, but Sirius merely scoffed. 'Impossible,' he said lazily, pouring himself a goblet of pumpkin juice and holding up the pitcher inquiringly. When both Lily and Kalah shook their heads, he shrugged and put it down. 'It's Hogwarts. It's mandatory. You can't just—drop out.'

'Sure you can,' muttered Kalah. 'Both my parents are magical, to an extent. If they wanted to give us magical education at home, they're well within their rights.'

'Why?' whispered Lily. She'd always known that Kalah's parents were strict. She hadn't been able to visit over the summer holidays, and it had taken her ages to convince her parents to buy her and her older sister an owl. But to pull her out of Hogwarts halfway through a semester?

Kalah tugged on the end of her long, black hair miserably. 'My stupid bloody sister, that's why.'

'The seventh year?' inquired Sirius, eagerly leaning forward. 'She's got eyes to _kill_, that one. And I've always found myself partial to older women…'

'If you're done lusting over my _sister_,' said Kalah, rolling her eyes and shooting him a pointed glare. 'My sister's gone and found herself a boyfriend.'

Lily blinked. Sirius blinked. Kalah wrung her hands in a panicked fashion.

'That's hardly a crime, Ramnath,' said Sirius, leaning back casually.

'She is a seventh year,' said Lily unsurely. 'Isn't that… normal?'

'No, it isn't, because you lot don't know my parents! I supposed it's never come up, but you've met my parents, Lily, on the platform—'

It was true. Lily had never met more cool and calculating people.

'—and neither of us has got permission to date!'

'Permission!' scoffed Sirius, his eyes agog. 'You're pulling my leg!'

Kalah shook her head sadly. 'Neera told my parents she was staying to study, but I only found out yesterday that she wasn't preparing for any bloody NEWTs at all! She stayed so she can spend time with her sodding boyfriend.'

'Who's the lucky bloke?' asked Sirius with a smug grin.

Kalah glared at him. 'That bloke in Ravenclaw. 'Padman Patil.'

'Ah…'

'Do your parents know?' asked Lily.

Kalah shook her head. 'Not yet. But they're _my_ parents. The two of them can smell deceit from miles away. I'm still waiting on the Howler that's going to order us to pack our things and get home so they can ship us off to the old country.'

'You're not getting shipped off anywhere,' said Lily soothingly. 'Don't panic just yet. Maybe they'll understand.'

Kalah scoffed at this. 'Yeah, right. And I suppose Professor Dumbledore was understanding when Gellert Grindelwald was running round murdering Muggle-borns for the common good?'

Sirius paused to consider her. 'No, I'm fairly certain Dumbledore sent him to Nurmengard for that.'

'_Exactly_!' said Kalah, with an exaggerated wave of her hand. 'To be _locked up_!'

'Having a boyfriend is hardly murder, Kalah,' reasoned Lily.

'It's no fair,' grumbled Kalah. 'I'm always left to clean up Neera's messes. She's supposed to be the older one, the responsible one. I shouldn't have to nag her. I should be the one snogging blokes in broom closets—'

Sirius gave a low whistle.

'Is that where you found her?' asked Lily, biting her lip to hide her amused grin.

'Filch asked me to fetch him a mop,' grumbled Kalah.

Sirius leant forward and propped his elbows onto the table. 'Well, love, if you're looking for blokes to snog in the broom closet—'

'—do you see what I mean?' said Kalah incredulously, indicating Sirius to Lily with her palm. 'My sister gets to be irresponsible and have fun and what do I get stuck with? _This_ joke!'

Sirius appeared affronted. 'Oi, who are you calling a joke?'

Kalah grinned and reached for the chocolate chip muffin on Sirius' breakfast plate, digging into it promptly.

'Oi!' cried Sirius indignantly. 'That was mine, I bloody love those!'

Kalah tapped her temple with her index finger. 'Great minds,' she hummed and both Lily and Sirius had quite a laugh about that.

* * *

Two days before Christmas, the entire castle was decorated with holly, wreaths and decorations. On top of the custom decorations prepared by the teachers of the castle, James and Sirius had cast spells that had the school echo Christmas carols that were previously sung by Peter—he was the only of them that had a half-decent voice. Of course, the Christmas carols they had chosen to project across the castle has of modified variations and Professor McGonagall was forced to remove the charms, deeming the lyrics, 'Jingle bells, Snivellus smells', as inappropriate.

That morning, Lily arrived to the Great Hall to find very few people having breakfast. There was a single table arranged in the middle of the room, and Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, Sprout, Slughorn and Flitwick were seated there, along with Filch, who was wearing an unusually bright and clean coat in exchange for his usual dusty and grimy coats.

'Ah, Miss Evans, good morning!' exclaimed Professor Dumbledore.

'Morning, Professors,' chimed Lily cheerfully. She really was quite fond of the Headmaster.

'Why don't I draw some more chairs?' Dumbledore raised his wand in a flourish. 'We have a couple more students coming to breakfast.'

Lily was buttering her toast when the doors to the Great Hall burst open, revealing James and Sirius.

'Morning, Professors!' exclaimed James, with a wide grin on his face.

'Good morning, good morning,' chuckled Professor Dumbledore. 'Now, boys, I must applaud you on the clever charm you'd cast across the castle.'

'Really?' asked Sirius in wonder.

'—though the lyrics were quite unfortunate,' cut across Professor McGonagall, her voice curt.

James gave her a bright smile as he winked. 'We'll work on that, Professor.'

'Why don't you boys take a seat,' suggested McGonagall.

'Right you are, Professor,' said Sirius, plopping down onto the seat across from McGonagall and beside Lily. He glanced up briefly, caught James' warning glare and instantly slid over, leaving a seat between Lily and himself.

'Oi! Prongs!' said Sirius. 'Over here, mate.' Lily watched in horror as she realised Sirius was indicating to the seat next to her.

James gave Sirius a grin and took the seat beside him, giving Lily his characteristic lopsided grin that always seemed to last longer than it should.

'Where's your mate?' he asked, indicating to the empty seat on the other side of Lily.

'Sleeping,' responded Lily shortly. There was always something about Potter that made her want to cut conversations short.

Lily carried on with her breakfast in silence, mildly aware of James was describing a Quidditch strategy enthusiastically to Sirius, who seemed more interested in the food in front of him, but was listening all the same. Professor Dumbledore was engaged in a discussion with Professor McGonagall, about which Muggle chocolate company was better – Hershey or Cadbury. In this conversation, Professor Dumbledore was speaking quite zealously, while Professor McGonagall simply nodded her head exasperatedly here and there, every time the headmaster paused to take a breath. In the comfortable buzzing environment of that morning's breakfast, it was quite jarring when James suddenly stood up.

Lily started instinctively.

'Something wrong, mate?' asked Sirius, appearing concerned.

James blinked. 'What?' he asked, sounding confused. 'Oh—nothing. I just wanted the syrup.'

Sirius chuckled and Lily scoffed, raising her eyes to the ceiling in exasperation as James leant over her slightly to grab the syrup.

Lily was suddenly acutely aware of the small bit of mistletoe hanging above her head—no, hanging above both her and Potter's head as he leant over to fetch his syrup. She jumped from her seat in panic, getting to her feet quickly.

James turned his head toward her, appearing entirely taken aback.

'What's wrong?' he asked, his voice sounding confused.

'N—nothing,' said Lily hastily, grabbing a nearby apple from a basket on the table. 'I'm just not very hungry, is all.'

'You just picked up an apple,' pointed out Sirius.

Lily glanced at the apple in her hands. 'It's for Kalah,' she said.

Before Sirius could make a retort about Kalah still being asleep, Lily had turned on her heel and had strolled out of the Great Hall.

There was a moment of silence in which James was frozen in his stance, his arm in midair, holding a bottle of syrup, with a dumbfounded expression upon his face.

Everyone, it seemed, was too preoccupied in what their own conversations to notice a particularly bright twinkle in Professor Dumbledore's eyes.

'Prongs, would you stop gawking at her and bloody ask her already?' said Sirius in an exasperated voice, as they passed through the large doors of the castle onto the grounds. They were on their way to visit Hagrid, the Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts.

Professor Slughorn's Christmas party was the next day, and Sirius had spent the past week since James had received an invitation, attempting to persuade him to ask Lily Evans to be his date.

James didn't reply, but instead, ran a hand through his hair casually as he nonchalantly glanced back from the corner of his eyes at Lily Evans, who was discussing her Prefect rounds schedule with Betty Braithwaite's older sister, Marianne, who was the Head Girl.

James turned away from the pair to glare at Sirius. 'What makes you think she's going to say yes?'

'You never know until you try,' replied Sirius, with a shrug.

James shook his head. 'No, I think I know exactly what she'd say.'

Sirius leant forward. 'No, it's like this,' he instructed, tossing his head slightly to get a fringe of his hair away from his eyes. 'Just toss it out—make it a casual invitation, as if you don't even care about the answer. Don't makes yourself seem like a stupid git who doesn't even know what he's doing—'

'Gee, Padfoot, thanks,' muttered James.

'No, listen,' insisted Sirius. 'It's about the confidence. Birds love the confidence. Hm—let's see…'

Sirius scanned the grounds, but found that there were hardly any people outside in that cold weather. Finally, he spotted Stacey McKinnon and Daisy Dodderidge trudging towards the castle, bundled up in winter clothes and gossiping excitedly to each other.

'Oi, McKinnon!'

Stacey McKinnon's head snapped up at the sound, and her eyes swiveled round to find the source of it.

Sirius gave a wave. 'Slughorn's party with me tomorrow night?'

Stacey blinked and blushed furiously for a moment before giving Sirius a short nod.

Sirius beamed. 'See you then!'

Stacey shyly waved back and Sirius turned away to fall into step with James, completely oblivious to the sour expression on Daisy Dodderidge's face that her best mate had been asked out by none other than Sirius Black.

Sirius shot James a winning smile. 'See? It's that easy. Confidence, Prongs. Confidence.'

'Yeah, yeah,' muttered James, and he remained in a grumpy mood for the rest of the day. When Hagrid asked later on why he was so quiet, James lied and said that the weather was too cold to play Quidditch. He'd never tell that he was jealous of his best mate's ability to talk to girls. After all, the mutt would never let him live it down.

* * *

'Confidence, alright? You just need a bit of—'

'—confidence. Yeah, yeah, I got it, Padfoot,' interrupted James, sounding a bit peeved at Sirius' constant repetition of the word.

James and Sirius had just come from the Quidditch pitch after having flown a few after dinner rounds due to the former's complaints of going through withdrawals. Sirius was quite relieved to collapse onto a sofa in the warm common room, though he was mildly annoyed that the girls had taken his favourite spot by the fireplace. Mary MacDonald, who had also decided to stay at Hogwarts because her parents were visiting her sick grandma, was teaching Lily and Kalah how to knit.

'So,' said Sirius, orchestrating a conversation for James' benefit loud enough for the girls to hear. 'Are you going to Slughorn's party tomorrow?'

James was quick on the follow-up. 'Yeah,' he responded, with a smug tone of voice. From the corner of his eye, he saw Evans' head twitch up momentarily at the sound of his voice. He was feeling hopeful at the prospect that she might respond to something he said, but she made no acknowledgement, but instead leant toward Mary MacDonald to confirm whether she had made a mistake in her knitting.

'I'm going with Stacey McKinnon,' said Sirius unnecessarily. He knew that James was aware of this, but he needed a premise for their conversation. 'Have you asked anyone?'

James shrugged noncommittally. 'Not yet, I haven't really thought about it. Er—let's see—' James scanned the common room. 'Oi, _Evans_!'

Lily jumped at the sudden sound of her name, but didn't turn around.

'Evans—Slughorn's party with me tomorrow night?'

Kalah turned round in her seat, raising her eyebrows at James and giving him an amused smile and a questioning look.

James ran a hand through his hair, waiting for Lily's response.

A moment later, she turned round herself, and stared at him.

James mustered up the nerve to wink.

Finally, Lily blinked, and then burst into a fit of laughter.

James' grin faltered.

'Er—'

'You—you just—_aha_—' Lily barely got a few words in before she lost control in another bout of laughter.

James shot Sirius a nervous glance, but Sirius nodded his head in encouragement.

'Thanks,' said Lily finally, when she'd gotten control of herself again. 'Thanks, Potter—I needed a laugh.'

'What do you mean?' asked James, a pink tinge appearing on his cheeks. Mary MacDonald was giggling next to Lily.

'I mean—you can't be serious, asking_ me_ to Slughorn's party. Everybody knows we can't stand each other,' said Lily matter-of-factly, as though this were common knowledge. 'You'd never _really_ ask me, and I'd never really say yes!' Lily started to laugh again.

'I—' James appeared flustered for a moment before he regained his composure. 'Well—of course I wasn't serious!' he said. 'I only meant that since you've got no one to take you—I figured I'd do you a favour, Evans,' he added airily.

The humour in Lily's face disappeared instantly. 'Excuse me?' she demanded, her eyes slits.

James leant back in his chair, continuing to speak as though he hadn't heard her. 'But alright, Evans, I suppose if you want to go alone…'

'Who said I was going alone!'

James sat up again. 'What?' he asked stupidly.

'Who said I was going alone?' repeated Lily. She had gotten to her feet and had put her hands on her hips. Her face was flushed in anger. 'I'll have you know I'm going to Professor Slughorn's party with Barney Brown!'

She didn't wait for James' response. Instead, she turned to Kalah and Mary, muttered 'I'm going to bed,' under her breath, and then stormed off, carrying her knitting needles and ball of yarn with her. Kalah and Mary were now doubled over on the couch, failing miserably to hide their fits of laughter.

James sat astonished for a moment before he turned to Sirius and scowled. 'You and your rotten confidence,' he growled.

But Sirius too had put his face into his hands and was laughing silently.

'Barney Brown,' he choked out in between his laughter. 'You got beat out by Barney Brown!'

James made a mental note to hex Sirius in his sleep.

* * *

'Well, well, well, what do we have hear?' inquired Sirius, as he descended from the boys' dormitories the next night.

'Hullo, Sirius,' said Kalah without looking up. She was packing up her chess set after having just finished a game of Wizard's Chess with Mary MacDonald. Mary had retired to the girls' dormitory for that evening. Kalah glanced up at Sirius.

'Ah… and what are you so dressed up for?' she asked with a grin, indicating to Sirius' deep blue cloak. It appeared as though he'd even made the effort to comb his hair, though Sirius' hair was always more yielding than his best mate's.

Sirius grinned, taking a seat on the couch in front of her as he helped put away her chess pieces. 'Got meself a date,' he said cheekily.

'Ah…' said Kalah, as though the answer had always been clear. 'Lucky you,' she added heavily. 'Though I hope you're not worrying _your_ younger sibling with your dating habits.'

Sirius thought about this. 'Well, considering I'll be meeting Stacey McKinnon in the Astronomy tower in fifteen minutes and McKinnon's a Muggle-born, I'd say little brother dearest would be quite distressed. You know my family and its policy against Muggle –borns.'

Kalah wrinkled her nose at the thought of Sirius' family's ideals, but shook her head sadly at the parallelism between herself and Sirius' brother. 'Poor little Reg. I do sympathize.'

'Don't,' said Sirius with a casual shrug. Then: ''cause Stacey McKinnon's quite the looker.' He grinned wickedly and Kalah chucked a bishop at his head. He ducked, shouting 'Oi!', to which Kalah cracked up entirely.

'Hold on, you're going to the Astronomy Tower?' asked Kalah. 'What about Slughorn's party? Lily left a while ago, and I just saw James go out the Portrait door. He's taking Daisy Dodderidge, I heard.'

Sirius nodded in affirmation. 'But I've got no invite,' he said with a grin.

Kalah appeared confused. 'But I thought you told James that you were taking Stacey McKinnon to the party?'

Sirius hummed. 'I did. But then I realized I had no invite, so I asked Stacey to meet me in the Astronomy Tower instead. She seemed no have no problem with the change of location.' He was grinning like a Cheshire cat as Kalah rolled her eyes, muttering 'typical' under her breath.

'Right, I'd best be going,' said Sirius, picking up the bishop swiftly from the floor and passing it to her as he rose from the couch.

'Have fun,' said Kalah, waggling her eyebrows suggestively.

Sirius gave a loud bark of laughter at this. 'I intend to,' he replied, with an eyebrow waggle of his own.

He was almost out the Portrait hole when he called at her. 'Oi, Kalah?'

'Hm?' Kalah looked up from her pieces at him. She could only see the shadow of his face, as the sofa in front of her had efficiently blocked the rest of the passage from her view.

'Don't—don't worry too much about your sister, yeah?'

Kalah blinked. 'What?'

'I've got a feeling it'll all work out.'

His voice had gone oddly deep; it lacked its usual airiness, which was instead replaced with an edge of sincerity. Kalah thought for a moment that it wasn't even Siruis who had spoken. But before she could get a proper look over the sofa at the passage, the portrait door had swung closed and Sirius Black had disappeared from sight.

* * *

References

Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. J. K. Rowling Bloomsbury, London: 2007.


	9. Memory Loss

_**A/N – **__Well, hello there! I realize I've been MIA for precisely one year, and for that great injustice, I have nothing to offer but my heartfelt apology and grovelling. Things have been incredibly busy, what with school, work, other pressing priorities, and oh, wait... the heartbreaking occasion of my computer dying on me and taking three-quarters of already-composed chapter nine with it to oblivion! Yeah, I know. I was devastated for weeks._

_Before we get to the chapter, I just want to say that I'm extremely grateful for the amazing readers who have managed to keep up with this story. I can honestly say that I certainly would have packed it up years ago if it weren't for the wonderful feedback I've received. In this huge, endless world of fan fiction, you've made me feel like a superstar. And for that, I thank you. _

_**Disclaimer: **__This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J. K. Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended._

* * *

"_**If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more."**_

_**~ Jane Austen**_

* * *

For the second time that school year, Amos Diggory found himself locked in a broom closet. The first time was in October, when he'd remembered walking to the Great Hall after Quidditch practice to get some supper and had found himself wedged between the old Boggart Cleaner ('wipes away all frightening residues!') and Filch's favourite floor cleaner, Madame Nettoyant's Marble Shiner. He hadn't known how he'd gotten there at the time, only that he was strolling down the staircase, narrowly missing the Vanishing step when he felt something prod his back. When he'd regained consciousness, he was in one of Filch's broom closets.

This time around, Amos found himself bound and voiceless, sitting on an upturned mop bucket in the company of Remus Lupin and Sirius Black. The sense of urgency filled him as soon as his eyes fluttered open and caught sight of Potter's mates. He was particularly cautious around this crowd of Gryffindor boys, rumoured to operate in the castle's shadows, using secret hexes and jinxes to have their way.

But although he harboured these small cautions, Amos was very careful not to reveal them. So the moment Sirius Black waved his wand and Amos found his voice once more, the latter vocalized his sentiments in a rather loud and vulgar manner.

'You rotten sons of –'

Black flicked his wand and Amos' mouth clamped shut. 'Language,' he said softly. Next to him, Lupin was casting a spell on the door of the closet.

'Now, Diggory,' said Black. 'We've got a proposition for you. And I do believe it's in your best interests to agree.'

'Let him talk, Padfoot,' said Lupin, and with another flick of his wand, Amos' mouth was no longer clamped shut as though it was bolted.

'Proposition,' spat Amos. 'Don't you mean threat?'

Black considered this. 'It could be. But my mates and I tend to stay away from threats. We always like to give lads a choice.'

With his hands bound behind his back, it was all Amos could do to agree. 'What the bloody hell do you want from me now? Lily ditched me already! Though I suppose you already know that.'

'Bitter, bitter,' said Lupin, shaking his head in a pitying manner.

'It's too bad we're not here for a pity party,' replied Black in the same lofty voice. 'Now Diggory, I was under the impression that you were a friendly bloke.'

If Amos was expecting that comment, he certainly didn't show it. 'W—what?' he asked dumbly.

'I rather thought you were brilliant at making acquaintances—Hufflepuff and friendliness and all that hodgepodge.'

'Er—'

'So please explain to me why you've recently been avoiding one Lily Evans as though she's got Splattergoit?'

Amos' expression turned sour. 'What, are you taking the mickey? You lot made it perfectly clear that I had to stay away from her. I haven't forgotten the last time I was in here,' he scoffed.

Lupin advanced. 'Ah, Diggory, you mistake our intentions. Sure, we didn't take too kindly to your attentions towards our lovely red-headed Prefect, but that didn't mean you can't be her _mate_.' Black nodded in agreement next to him.

Amos blinked and then promptly burst into laughter. He looked rather mad, cramped in the corner of the closet, his hands bound behind him and his head thrown back in hysterical laughter.

'So let me get this straight,' he choked, when he finally regained control of himself. 'You're threatening me to go back to speaking with Lily?'

'Propositioning,' corrected Black. 'We're propositioning you.'

Amos narrowed his eyes. 'Who do you lot think you are, the Undercover Aurors?'

'That depends,' said Black coldly, as he remembered that the morning's Prophet had reported the deaths of eight Aurors, all of whom had been discovered to have been part of a secret organization. 'Do you liken yourself to You-Know-Who? After all, the Undercover Aurors _were_ an organization devoted to fighting against him.'

Amos blanched visibly.

'Not the Undercover Aurors,' said Lupin easily. 'You can call us the Undercover—er—'

'—Marauders,' said Black. 'The Undercover Marauders. Much more dangerous, mate.'

Amos rolled his eyes at that. 'Lily's not your property. Ever considered she doesn't need your protection? So why don't you wankers quit treating her like some kind of meat—'

'That's not our intention,' said Lupin serenely. 'I rather hold Lily in the highest regard. But it seems I'm not the only one, and we merely hope to keep our friend out of harm's way.'

'Hah,' spat Amos. 'As if don't know you're setting her up to end up with your mate Potter, anyway. Everybody knows he fancies her something rotten.'

Black chuckled. 'Not as dull as you look, mate! I'm impressed. Now, what do you say? Our bird Evans doesn't need a boyfriend right now. But a friend would be great.'

Amos scoffed. 'Eat dung, Black.'

Black held his wand to Amos' throat in a threatening manner. 'Ladies first,' he snarled.

'Alright, alright!' cried Amos, his voice sounding panicked as he leant back as far as he could in his seat to avoid contact with Black's wand.

Black appeared satisfied as he withdrew his weapon. 'You know, Diggory, you're not a half-bad bloke.'

Lupin twirled Amos' wand in his hand and Black moved to remove his Full Body Bind curse.

'Pleasure doing business with you, mate.'

* * *

'Come now, Evans, is that any way to treat a bloke who brought you Butterbeer at Slughorn's party the other day?'

'Who spilt Butterbeer all down my front at Slughorn's party the other day, you mean,' corrected Lily loftily as she turned a corner. James followed closely behind.

James winced. 'I apologised for that one. You know it was an accident.'

'Yes, well, telling me "Sorry Evans, meant to get Brown over there" doesn't quite make one feel better.'

James grinned. 'A bloke likes to pride himself on his honesty,' he said cheekily.

'And a bird likes to be prejudiced against said bloke's idiocy—oops, I meant honesty.'

James gave a loud laugh as they approached another fork in the path and prepared himself to steer Lily to the right—it was really, the one role he had in the plan that he and his friends had orchestrated.

It was Remus' observation that Amos Diggory wasn't being friendly with Lily Evans—rather, Diggory was rather adamant in avoiding and ignoring her. This did not bode well for James, who had promised Lily, during his hour in Diggory's guise, that the two of them would remain friends. This inconsistency did not go unnoticed in Evans during the past few weeks, as she had been known to comment to Ramnath or Prewett that 'Amos has run off again… I only wanted to ask him how his Herbology test went'. So far, this has been satisfied by her mate's reassuring comments: 'Maybe he didn't hear you' (from Prewett), or 'Maybe he's got the runs' (from Ramnath).

Regardless, James knew that it was time to take action. Peter had planned the scheme this time around, as the task required perfect timing, and no one was better at timing than good ol' Wormtail.

Padfoot and Moony were to have a discreet conversation with Diggory. Then, all James had to do was steer Evans to the right place at the right time, while the message his mates had inscribed into Diggory's head was still fresh.

Thus, it was James' job to ensure Evans took the right on the upcoming fork. Unfortunately, at the moment, she seemed to be giving all signs of turning left, as she'd previously stated that she was heading towards the library.

James took a few fast strides and took the left at the following fork. Behind him, Lily hesitated and turned right.

'So Evans—' began James, as though he were striking up a conversation. He tossed a glance behind his shoulder to make sure she was heading right before he retraced his steps and threw on a guise of mock affront. 'Oi! I thought you were going to the library! Why are you going this way?'

'I thought I'd take a different path,' said Lily, as though it were obvious. 'One without you on it. It's a pity you caught on.'

James clutched his chest in feigned surprise. 'Were you trying to get rid of me?'

Lily rolled her eyes and James grinned, thrilled at his success.

'Why are you going to the library?' he asked. 'Flitwick's paper isn't due for another two weeks.'

'I'm aware of that.'

'So—'

Lily gave a breath of exasperation. 'Professor Slughorn asked me to try out an extra-credit assignment, alright?'

James laughed, leaning down so that his head was level with hers. 'It's the second week back, Evans. Relax,' he said.

Lily scowled and moved away. 'You can relax if you'd like Potter. But I've got about a million things on my plate at the moment. And so does poor Remus. I wish you'd quit the juvenile pranks you lot always pull, if at least for his sake. He's a Prefect too, you know. He's got plenty of other things to do than help you lot ruin the castle. At least think of him.'

James chuckled. 'I'll stop the second he asks me to, how's that sound?'

'Great,' said Lily smugly. 'I'll have a talk with him, then.'

'But mind you,' interjected James with a smirk. 'Our Remus has quite as much fun as the rest of us do. I reckon you won't be very successful.'

Lily snorted. 'That's because you've got him brain-washed.'

'Or perhaps it's the other way around?'

'Not likely.'

'Who do you think comes up with our brilliant plots?' asked James, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his robes as the two of them turned another corner.

Instead of answering his question, Lily tossed him an annoying look past her shoulder. 'You know, Potter, I don't think I'll ever understand why you're constantly following me.'

'Following you? I'm merely going to the library. This is just a pleasant coincidence.'

'You turned left and then backtracked when I turned right.'

'The right turn meant a longer walk in your company. I rather like your company.'

'And I rather detest yours.'

'Pity, isn't it?'

Lily made a sound of contempt, unable to come up with anything that would successfully get him to leave her presence. It was at that moment that she saw, through her peripheral vision, the arrival of her former boyfriend, Amos Diggory.

'Amos!' she called, grinning. Next to her, James' head turned so abruptly that Lily heard the sound of a crick.

Amos' smile was so tight that it appeared a grimace, though Lily did not seem to notice. He held up a hand in greeting. 'Er—hullo, Lily.' Amos shot a nervous glance toward James as Lily took a few steps forward.

'Hi Amos, where are you headed?' she asked.

Amos' eyes darted between her and James. 'Er—Great Hall.' He clutched his stomach immediately. 'I'm starving. And—er—you?'

'Library.' Lily made a face. 'You know how it is.'

Amos nodded in agreement.

'Yeah sure,' snorted James, 'when you do extra-credit—ow!' He winced as Lily jabbed him in the ribs and tossed him a glare.

'I should get going,' said Amos quickly. 'Roast beef doesn't eat itself.'

Lily grinned. 'I'll see you round, then.'

'Yeah sure!' Amos nodded at both Lily and James. 'Cheers.'

Lily picked up her pace as Amos disappeared round the corner, seemingly in a better mood.

'I thought you broke up with Diggory,' said James offhandedly.

Lily glared at him. 'I did. We're friends now.' They had reached the library now. Lily crossed through the middle, waving a hand to Madame Pince as she passed.

'Ah, friends. So, about this extra-credit rubbish. What is it exactly? Discover ten uses for unicorn blood? Determine the pros and cons of Veritaserum? Create a potion that will render werewolves harmless?'

'It's an essay,' said Lily shortly, weaving through bookshelves as she searched for the Potions section.

'So do you think I can get in on this? I reckon Slughorn'll let me. I'm doing horribly in his class, anyway, so I could use the boost. Maybe we could work togeth—'

Lily pivoted on her heel and faced him, looking frustrated. 'What do you want?'

James blinked rapidly. 'What?'

Lily looked fierce at that moment, her eyes blazing with annoyance and her jaw set. 'What do you want from me, Potter? Do I—do I owe you money or something? Is that it? Why is it that you're constantly following me, as if you're trying to collect something? '

James smirked, leaning forward. 'Well, now that you mention it, Evans…'

'No!' exclaimed Lily. 'Stop tormenting me, Potter! Just leave me alone. I—'

'Evans.'

'—honestly don't understand why you go out of your way to make my life miserable—'

'Evans.'

'—when I'm sure you could find better things to do—'

'_Evans_.'

Lily stopped short, not in response to Potter's tone of voice, but in response to another set of voices wafting over to them from three bookcases away.

'But I do feel bad about it.'

'I do, too.'

Lily froze, her head turning towards the direction of the sounds. 'Hey, isn't that…?' James nodded, his gaze fixed on the bookcase, as though seeing through it to the people behind, who were speaking to each other in hushed whispers.

'Do you think they'd be okay with it? I mean, I usually tell them everything.'

Lily blinked. _Alice_, she mouthed. James gave a noncommittal jerk of the head.

'I know,' came the reply. 'Lily and Kalah are great mates. I know it must be hard to keep anything from them.'

James' eyebrows shot up and his lips formed the word: _Frank_!

Lily nodded, finding herself as engaged in the conversation as James. Tell them what?

James made to move through the bookcases for better reception.

'Hey!' hissed Lily, grabbing his sleeve in restraint. 'No eavesdropping!'

James winked and shrugged her hand off, walking around his bookcase and moving closer to the voices until only one bookcase separated him from the pair of people on the other side. A split second later, Lily was at his side, glaring at him.

'Couldn't keep away, eh Evans?' whispered James, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. Lily opened her mouth to retort, but James put a finger to his lips to silence her, grinning impishly, just when the voices began to speak once more.

Alice sighed. 'But we shouldn't. At least not yet. It's too dangerous.'

'Yeah,' murmured Frank in response. 'Well, I'm always behind you, Alice. Whatever you decide.'

James waved a hand in front of Lily's face to catch her attention. When she glanced at him, he whispered, 'spies!'

_What_? mouthed Lily back. _That's ridiculous._

Except that it didn't sound ridiculous. The facts did, in fact, seem to line up:

Alice and Frank had four tutorial sessions planned every week.

With the rise of You-Know-Who was the rise of a dozen or so secret organizations against him, such as the Undercover Aurors.

Both Alice and Frank aspired to be Aurors and would jump at the chance to get a head start.

Alice's family had connections with the Ministry.

James seemed to be aware of his theory's legitimacy, because he gestured to the voices and gave Lily a knowing look. _Got a better idea?_

'I know you are,' Alice was murmuring. 'You're always so good to me, Frank. You know I love you, right?'

James' jaw dropped. Lily grabbed the bookcase for support. Both peeked through the gap between two battered books to view the scene and confirm its truth.

Frank had Alice by the waist and was drawing her closer, meeting his forehead with hers.

'You can take this as a yes,' he murmured in response, and then the two of them were snogging, Frank's hands encircling Alice's waist and Alice's hands in Frank's hair, pulling him in closer, and all the while Lily and James were gaping at each other in an expression of mingled surprise and horror.

_Yes_, mouthed Lily to James. _I do have a better idea_. She gestured madly towards the exit of the library and James acknowledged her.

The second they were out of earshot of the library's inhabitants, James let out a loud whoop.

'Frank Longbottom, you dog!' he exclaimed gleefully. Next to him, Lily was much more pensive, muttering to herself in her attempts to remember if Alice had shown any signs of inclination towards Frank.

'Well,' she said finally, her voice shaking. 'I suppose we now know why Alice has been tutoring Frank about four times a week.'

'Sirius told me he'd seen them coming down from the Astronomy Tower a few days ago,' said James, his grin still intact. 'But he figured they were serving detention up there.'

'Some detention,' echoed Lily, sounding awestruck as a smile beginning to appear on her face. 'Well… Alice and Frank… I never would have figured.'

'Lets go catch them at it, shall we?' said James, pivoting and making to return back to the library.

'What?' yelped Lily, halting his steps with a tug of his sleeve. 'Potter, no! They'll—'

'They'll what? Deny it? We've got ourselves a visual, mate. Not much to deny.'

'No—they'll—well, look Potter. Alice usually tells Kalah and me everything—you heard her. So—so if she's going to keep something to herself, she must have a pretty good reason for it.'

James blinked blankly. 'And?' he prompted.

'And,' repeated Lily, beginning to sound irritated now. 'We ought to—well, we ought to respect that.'

James snorted. 'Not my style.' He made to shrug her hand off.

'Potter!'

'Fine, fine,' grumbled James. 'A bloke can't even try to get a bit of honesty these days.'

Lily smirked, satisfied. 'Perhaps said bloke ought to first be honest about who tipped Hiccoughing Potion into the Slytherins' pumpkin juice.'

* * *

Despite his discovery of Frank's secret, and the growing dilemma of the wizarding world in regards to Muggle attacks, the next few weeks before the full moon for James meant two things: Quidditch practice and convincing a reluctant Remus to consent to exploring Hogsmeade during their next night out.

Convincing Remus to let them leave the Shrieking Shack during that month's full moon was very much like convincing Sirius' mum to let him visit James over the holidays—very stubborn work. Sirius' mother only allowed Sirius out of the house during holidays when there was no better option—say, if Sirius were to suggest that he wanted to stay over at his Muggle born girlfriend's house. Of course, it was a joke on Sirius' end: he was dating fourth-year Mackenzie Robins now, and she was a half-blood. But Mrs Black seemed to take the matter very seriously, and the pure blood Potters seemed a more appropriate destination for Sirius to reach. Besides, Regulus usually had his friends over for the break, and in Mrs Black's point of view, it would probably be a good idea to get Sirius out of the house while they were there.

James, Sirius and Peter approached the subject of exploring Hogsmeade with similar tactics. They could either take a tiny, unregistered chance to slip out of the Shack for a few minutes, test Moony's tolerance to the outside world and enjoy the best nights of their lives every full moon; or, if Remus preferred, they could stay in the shack and talk about their feelings, but Padfoot was going to take Moony's book out of its hiding place during transformation, and if Moony destroys it and gets an earful from Madam Pince, it's his own fault. Remus' jaws twitched three times during the conversation, but when Peter whipped out a bar of Honeydukes' finest chocolate and waved it over Remus' sensitive nose, the matter was settled instantaneously.

On the next full moon day, they were leaving the shack.

Still, all around the castle students were studying for the upcoming exams. The one class Lily never worried about in regards to studying for O.W.L.s was Potions. With Severus as her partner, the two of them always finished before the rest of the class, received O's and points for both Houses, and spent the remainder of the class hour discussing potions and spells while Black whispered 'keener' towards her continuously. In response, all she had to do was turn round and ask, 'And how's your potion coming along?' and Black would glance down at his cauldron containing a grey, murky concoction with orange smoke emitting from it. He'd glance at his partner Potter, who would be frantically flipping through his textbook to see what went wrong, and Lily would smile a smug smile (that James never failed to catch), and would turn back to her conversation with Severus.

'Okay, so this one, right? You made this spell, Sev?'

Severus grinned and pushed his notebook over to her. 'Yeah. I still need to fix a few things. I reckon there should be a counter-clockwise quarter twist instead of a quick jab, but I'm not sure.'

'Maybe I could help.' Lily read the notes written under the word 'Muffliato', which seemed to be quoting several upper-year textbooks. 'This is really very impressive, Sev. I can't believe you did all this. What does this one do?' she asked, pointing to a formula on the next page that had its title written in bold letters: 'Levicorpus'.

Severus grinned. 'That one's for Potter,' he whispered conspiratorially, and Lily laughed.

'Excellent, what does it do?'

'Yeah, what does it do?'

Lily whirled around, surprised to find that her voice had carried that far. James and Sirius had stopped stirring their potion, which seemed to have returned to its proper teal shade. Sirius was staring from Lily to Snape in a loathing fashion, as though great treason had occurred, but James' eyes were fixed on Snape alone.

'Get out of it, Potter,' said Lily dismissively. 'Mind your potion, it's turning blue.'

'Never mind that. What does Levicorpus do?'

Lily didn't get a chance to answer because Professor Slughorn came walking around.

'Ah, Mr Potter, excellent, teal… By the way, I was meaning to ask, when is your next Quidditch match?'

Sirius returned to the potion and James, after tossing one more glare at Snape and an inquisitive glance towards Lily, engaged Slughorn in a Quidditch-centered conversation about his talents that showed promise in being able to get them an O on their potion without actually finishing their brewing.

In between her conversation with Severus, Lily made sure to observe the other students in the classroom, most notably Alice and Frank, who had still shown no hint of dating in public. Alice was working with Kalah, dictating as Kalah stirred clumsily. Frank was at the other side of the room, forced unfortunately to be paired with the Slytherin Michael Jacobs. Neither made any notice towards each other and there was a point at which Lily glanced at Potter to check if he too was puzzled by this act of indifference. But Potter merely shrugged, and it became clear to Lily then that he was probably more acquainted with deceit that she.

At lunch that day, Sirius came to the Great Hall to meet James, Remus and Peter, carrying a small flask.

'Here,' he said, after discreetly taking Remus' pumpkin juice goblet under the table. He fumbled about with his flask, transferring its contents into the pumpkin juice and withdrawing the empty flask into his robes. He held the modified pumpkin juice goblet to Remus. 'Bottoms up, mate.'

Remus eyed him apprehensively, but took the flask regardless. 'I hope you're not trying to poison me.'

Sirius waggled his eyebrows before letting out a bark of laughter. 'You know perfectly well that's the potion to lower odour sensitivity. You know, so there's no accidents tonight,' said Sirius, his voice a whisper. 'Be grateful, mate, you've no idea the pains I went through to get that.'

'To us,' said Remus, and downed it in one.

'What's the plan for tonight, then?' asked Peter, as he picked up a chicken leg and added it to his plate.

'Same as usual, Wormtail,' said Sirius, refilling his own goblet. 'Whose turn to guard the Common Room?'

'I did it last time,' said Peter automatically.

'Not me,' put in James.

Sirius swore. 'Me?'

'Come off it, Padfoot,' said Peter, passing him the plate of chicken. 'We all know how you love ushering those fourth-year girls off to bed.'

* * *

Hogsmeade at night was a sight to behold. The little cottages and shops all sat underneath a thin layer of snow that struck alight with the glow of the magically lit candles hanging in the trees. Only one shop, the post office, run by an elderly couple, still had its Christmas wreath hanging on the front door from the holidays that had passed. The street was mostly empty, but footprints were still engraved on the path towards the various cottages.

Moony was kept under the Invisibility Cloak with Wormtail on his shoulder, to make sure that the werewolf didn't straighten out too much to the point of tearing the precious fabric or exposing his feet. It was no easy task—Moony was ten times more stubborn than Remus, and while Remus loved the soft, silky nature of the Cloak, Moony hated it. James and Sirius both assumed that this was because the cloak—a piece of clothing—went against the beast's natural instincts.

James had Padfoot dig a hole under the Shrieking Shack the night before, and they managed to slip outside carefully. Moony tested the air, taking a tentative sniff into the atmosphere as he sat on his hind legs and pointed his nose in the air, with Prongs and Padfoot flanking him on either side. Wormtail held his breath, his teeth poised just in case Moony was to go on a rampage. But all was well, as Moony turned to Prongs a moment later and gave the biggest, widest, most wolfish grin he'd ever seen on him.

If anyone had been out in Hogsmeade at the unruly hour of one forty-three, they'd have seen a most bizarre scene indeed—a stag walking the street in the company of a great black dog. Had Moony not been wearing James' cloak, they'd have seen a large werewolf join the party, with a small rat upon his shoulder.

The group spent a great deal of time exploring, free from the constraints of their regular three-hour trips with the rest of Hogwarts. True, many of the shops were closed, as it was night, but wasn't this only a test run of their tunnels to determine whether they could return to Hogsmeade whenever they pleased, even during the day?

Padfoot was the most restless, bounding from one side of the street to the next, smelling anything in sight, while James walked carefully next to where he believed Moony was. Wormtail made sure to pop out of the Invisibility cloak every now and then to reveal their position. During their regular Hogsmeade trips, they'd never be able to visit every shop, as three hours was nearly not enough to stock up on necessary Zonko's items, grab some Honeydukes and relax a bit with a Butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks.

Now, Prongs, Padfoot, Moony and Wormtail were free to wander as they pleased, discovering shops they'd never even noticed during their hurried visits with their classmates. They found Dervish and Banges, a shop Will Johnson was always droning on about during Quidditch practice. Whenever something went wrong with anyone's broom, he was quick to suggest they drop by the shop during their next Hogsmeade trip. They also managed to stumble across the post office, Scrivenshaft's, and even a dumpy little shop called Madam Puddifoot's that Padfoot refused to approach.

They finally arrived along the main street, a lane they been avoiding earlier so as to prolong exposing themselves as much as possible. Here, only two shops had their lights on: the Three Broomsticks, and the Hog's Head. Moony twitched. Prongs, Padfoot and Wormtail froze.

'It's okay,' growled Moony a moment later.

Had anyone been out and about at such an unruly hour, they'd have merely heard the sounds of growls, barks and squeaks from the conversation following. However, it has always been said that animals have their own unique means of communication, and while Prongs, Padfoot and Wormtail were in their Animagi states, Moony's growls sounded less like menacing threats and more like sensible conversation.

'I wonder what it'd be like if a dog strutted into the Hog's Head and ordered a Firewhisky,' barked Sirius, with an impish grin.

Prongs chuckled. 'The old man would probably still give it to you. Though, I'm thinking about getting a few Butterbeers.'

Moony made a sound of disagreement. 'Are you mad? I can't believe we're out here at all!'

'And of course, Prefect Moony never fails to show up,' said Padfoot, sounding bored.

'We can't go in looking like this, Prongs,' added Wormtail.

'No,' agreed Prongs, 'but Wormtail and I can change back and bring some for you lot.'

'Fat chance,' said Padfoot. 'Forget me, why don't you?'

'You're the best at watching Moony,' said Prongs easily. 'Your sheer irresponsibility will keep Prefect Moony surfacing forever.'

Moony snorted at that. 'Alright then, shall we wait for you at the Shack?'

'Yeah,' said Prongs. 'But only for today. Next month, we're going to start testing your tolerance to humankind.'

Moony looked squeamish as Wormtail scrambled down and reappeared from out of the Invisibility Cloak. The stag and rat waited until the black dog (and the large invisible wolf they could not see) disappeared from view, before transforming with a short 'pop' back into James and Peter.

The Three Broomsticks was emptier than James had ever seen it. The tables and couches were vacated except for a family at one corner, made up of a young man, woman and infant son –they seemed to be making a stop at the Three Broomsticks in the midst of a long journey.

By the bar's edge sat four men, three of whom seemed to be acquainted, as they were laughing and reminiscing about old times. The other man wore a hooded Cloak and sat on the other end of the booth. Behind the bar stood Rosmerta, one of the newer barmaids who'd only been working at the Three Broomsticks for the past few years. She was leaning forward with her elbows propped up on the surface as she flipped casually through the latest edition of Witch Weekly.

James swaggered over the bar with Peter flanking him, the latter looking both wide-eyed with apprehension and pleased at the thrill of this act of rebellion.

They'd never spoken with Rosmerta before, even though it was not their first time seeing her. The pub during Hogsmeade days were always so full, especially by the bar; the most James could ever get from her was "Butterbeer? That's 2 sickles each. Thanks.' The remainder of the time she'd be smilingly fending off the seventh-year Ravenclaw boys who attempted to get the twenty-two year old's rather divided attention.

When James and Peter approached and slipped into the two stools directly in front of her, she looked up with a bored expression on her face.

'Evening,' said James. 'Can we get a couple of Butterbeers?'

Rosmerta gazed at them, her eyes darting to the Hogwarts crest on their cloaks. 'You're from Hogwarts,' she said slowly, setting her magazine down on the counter and straightening up.

James felt strangely as though he were being tested. 'That's right,' he replied, in the same, casually confident voice. He extended a hand charmingly. 'I'm James Potter. This is Peter.'

Peter raised a hand in greeting. 'Pleasure.'

Rosmerta stared at them with the same bemused expression, but shook James' outstretched hand all the same. 'Hogwarts,' she repeated. Her lips twitched upwards into a smirk. 'How did you two manage to get out at this hour?'

James grinned. 'We have our ways.'

Rosmerta raised an eyebrow. 'And what makes you think I won't march you up to Hogwarts and let your Head of House know where you've been?'

Peter's eyes bugged out of his head just then, and his head turned to James so fast that his neck cricked.

James picked his words carefully, reaching into his robes. 'Because we wanted a few Butterbeers,' he said, sliding a Galleon over the counter—far more money than required. 'And we were hoping you'd like to join us.'

Rosmerta eyed the fat gold piece for a moment, almost pensive. Then, her face broke into a genuine grin. She picked the Galleon up with perfect fingernails.

'What did you say your name was?'

'James Potter.'

Rosmerta chuckled, observing the coin. 'You've got some nerve, James Potter. And you're a charming one at that.' She stuck out her hand this time. 'I'm Rosmerta.'

James and Peter managed to chat with Rosmerta for another ten minutes before the hooded figure at the end of the bar asked for another drink and pulled her away. Grabbing a couple of Butterbeers to go and waving goodbye to Rosmerta, they headed off towards the Shrieking Shack.

James put both Butterbeer bottles on the ground and he and Peter transformed into their respective Animagi states as they drew near the structure. Prongs bent down to grab both bottles with his mouth and with Wormtail, who had scrambled onto his back, they ducked down into the tunnel dug by Padfoot and entered the Shack.

Padfoot and Moony were on the second floor when they entered. Prongs, being far too big to fit through the narrow staircase, deposited the bottles at the foot of the staircase and gave an exasperated cry: 'Oi!'

Upstairs, Padfoot's ears perked up and he turned and dashed down the steps. Moony followed sulkily behind.

'What took you so long?' growled Sirius. 'Moony and I almost resorted to reviewing Transfiguration.'

Peter sniggered. 'We made friends.'

Prongs pointed with a hoof at the Butterbeers he'd deposited next to the stairs and Padfoot pounced immediately.

He attempted to get the bottle open with his teeth, spraying sweet liquid everywhere, and eliciting a choked laugh from Moony, who also inched forward in attempt. They spent the rest of the night laughing, sharing Butterbeer and planning their next Hogsmeade visit, preferably during the day. By the morning, there was more Butterbeer on the ground and on themselves than in their stomachs. But that didn't seem to bother them one bit.

* * *

Lily was horrible with secrets. They had a way of eating her up on the inside, gnawing their way out until they were revealed to the public. Of course, she still kept them—secret-keeping was an important skill in every friendship. Still, Lily couldn't help but jump every time Alice mentioned Frank—casually, always casually.

'I can't, Mary,' she was saying one day as they worked on a translation for Ancient Runes. 'I've got to help Frank with his Potions essay and then rush over here to write one for myself.'

'I can't believe you're still tutoring him,' said Kalah. 'You're an angel, you're not even charging him. If it were me, it'd be a Galleon a session, no exceptions, Frank Longbottom be damned.'

'Oh, believe me, I'm no angel. It'd be a Galleon a session for me too, if it weren't for the fact that he's offered to do my DADA homework every day.'

'What?' exclaimed Mary. Defense Against the Dark Arts was always a sore subject for her, having scraped by with Acceptable's each year at Hogwarts, and that was after hours and hours of excruciating studying. 'Is that how you always manage to finish two nights before?'

Alice shrugged, grinning cheekily. 'Well, I don't always let him. Only when I'm swamped. But anyway, he seems to think it's an even trade. We've got a very professional relationship, you see.'

Lily turned away to hide her suppressed grin. 'I bet you do.'

When Lily reached the common room early that next morning on her way to breakfast, she found Sirius Black standing by the portrait, blocking the exit outside. He was glancing around, as though distracted and lost.

'Excuse me,' said Lily, squeezing just past him to climb out the portrait. Sirius took a side step distractedly before realizing it was Lily who'd passed him. He whirled around.

'Oi, Evans, have you seen James?'

'No,' she replied shortly.

'He was supposed to meet me here a half hour ago.'

Lily rolled her eyes. 'I'm sure your boyfriend's fine. Besides, it's seven in the morning. What are you lot doing up and about so early, anyway?'

Sirius waved a hand dismissively. 'We're early risers, Evans.' He paused, turning to face her again. 'Impressed?' he added, this time with a waggle of his eyebrows.

Lily strolled away, shaking her head exasperatedly.

* * *

He knew it was morning – the sun was shining through the glass in the ceiling. He knew he was about to get in trouble – he was carrying a device with a very foul odour device in his hand. He knew his hair really needed a comb – the back of his head had an itch and his hand had reached up to scratch it, only to find a mop of extremely unruly hair.

But for the life of him, he could not remember who he was. Or where he was.

'James! There you are!'

A sandy-haired boy was running towards him. Worry was etched on his features, and while he appeared young, a sort of maturity resonated in him. Momentarily, his eyes were darting in every direction.

'Where have you been? Sirius has been waiting in the common room for ages! Did you get caught? How many detentions did you get? Wait, you're still holding that? Get rid of it!'

Remus grabbed the Dungbomb from James' hand and waved his wand at it, muttering under his breath. It instantly vanished.

James blinked and Remus continued speaking. 'Why didn't you throw it? What happened to the plan? Prongs, what—' He faltered, examining James' blank expression. 'Er—are you okay, mate?'

James took a step back, attempting to piece together shards of nothing. 'I—who are you?'

* * *

'You're kidding me.'

'I'm telling you, Padfoot, he's lost his memory.'

'How?'

'Dunno. I found him like this.'

Sirius waved a hand in front of James' face. 'Hello?'

'I'm not blind, mate,' said James.

Sirius grinned. 'Well, at least he's got Prongs' sense of humour.'

'But he doesn't remember anything?' asked Peter for the third time that morning.

James shrugged at him. 'Alright, so let me get this straight. I'm James,' he said, indicating to himself with two fingers, 'Sirius… Remus… and Peter,' to each of them at turn.

'That's right,' said Remus gently.

James made a circling gesture to his surroundings with his hand. 'Hogwarts?'

The fact that James had forgotten their precious school was too much for Sirius. He grabbed James by the shoulders. 'Prongs! Snap out of it!'

James merely appeared bewildered. 'I thought I was James! Who's Prongs?'

They found themselves in the hospital wing ten minutes later.

'So you see, Madam Lambridge, he doesn't remember anything,' explained Sirius, gesturing towards James, who was sitting politely on an empty bed.

'Is that so? Stand up, Mr Potter.'

James stood, after which Lambridge proceeded to wave her wand, muttering various spells. 'Hm… no good… ahh… oh, for goodness sake, not again!' She lowered her wand. 'Merlin, why has no one caught the culprit yet?'

Remus laughed despite himself. 'Well, I'm guessing only the victim knows his attacker. And seeing how the victim's lost his memory…'

Madam Lambridge pursed her lips disapprovingly. Well, it's the same attacker, I can tell you that. Same symptoms—glazed expression, bent posture, slight drool.

'Never mind that, James is like that every morning,' put in Peter seriously.

'Well, what were you lot doing out so early anyway?' asked Madam Lambridge sternly. 'Now, had you been in your common rooms, perhaps such an incident would not have happened.'

'I knew we should've talked to Madam Pomfrey instead,' muttered Sirius under his breath. 'She's less nosy.'

'Nevertheless,' continued Madam Lambridge. 'All of these were performed by a novice witch or wizard, as far as I can tell. Magic usually leaves traces, after all. I would say this was done by a second year—third year at the most.'

'But that's impossible!' said Remus. 'That's too young, isn't it?'

'—it is, and that's why where are many clear signs of failure. For example, while a Memory charm is used to block a specific memory, and requires intricate care to target and focus that memory, this one has wiped away everything.'

Sirius visibly blanched, swearing under his breath. 'So does this mean—'

'—and unlike a professional Memory Charm, which may last a lifetime,' continued Lambridge, blundering forward and ignoring interruptions once again with an annoyed expression, 'this one, performed by such a novice will most likely last no longer than two or three days.'

Peter gave a relieved laugh. 'Thank Merlin. I've got a Potions essay due next week that he's got to help me with. Can't have James forgetting that.'

Madam Lambridge shook her head exasperatedly. 'Well, in any case, I suggest you keep him out of trouble for a few days and his memory ought to come right back. We don't have a cure, considering this is not a true spell that was cast upon him.'

'That's it?' asked Sirius blankly.

'That's it. If he's still out of sorts in three days, bring him back here and we'll see what we can do. We may have to send him to St Mungo's Spell Damage division. That'll set him straight. '

Remus blanched. He absolutely detested hospitals.

'Alright,' said Sirius, glancing around to both Remus and Peter. 'I s'pose it can't be helped. We'll do our best to keep him out of trouble.'

'Thanks Madam Lambridge,' said Remus. 'Say hi to Madam Pomfrey for us.' And he led James out of the hospital wing after him.

The walk back to the Gryffindor tower (they'd missed breakfast that morning) consisted of Sirius, Remus and Peter murmuring to James about the various basic facts of his life.

'…and you're an only child. You're on the Quidditch team three years running as a Chaser. You're pretty good at it, but I'd avoid practice until you get your memory back. I haven't a clue whether your muscle memory's intact.'

'No Quidditch,' repeated James. 'Got it.'

'And I suppose you don't remember where the kitchens are, then?' added Sirius, sounding put out. 'Looks like I'll have to do the midnight runs now, eh?'

They reached Gryffindor Tower and stood in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady for thirty full seconds before Remus shouted 'Thestral!' in a triumphant voice. It'd been ages since any of them had to consciously remember the portrait password, as it was James who had always managed to fill that role. The Fat Lady appeared smug as her portrait swung open.

In what seemed rather unusual within their group, James remained silent throughout the banter between his three mates, except for the odd quip every now and then. Instead, he appeared to be taking in his environment, gazing left and right in utter bewilderment.

'Go ahead, mate,' said Sirius, ushering him through the Portrait tunnel and into the common room to collect their things before class that morning. He turned to Remus behind him as he followed. 'D'you reckon he remembers what magic is? What if he's become a Muggle?'

Remus rolled his eyes. 'Of course he remembers magic. He's been around it all his life. Remember, earlier Madam Lambridge said he's only lost declarative memory—you know, facts, figures and events.'

'And the _event_ of learning magic, then?'

'Well, if we looked at it like that, that he'd lost all forms of memory, he wouldn't remember how to walk, now would he?'

'Yeah, but—bloody hell, Prongs!'

And as though to somehow prove Remus wrong, James stopped walking. Sirius crashed promptly into him.

'What's wrong, mate?' asked Peter, walking around James and waving a hand over his face. He turned to Sirius. 'He's all blank.'

James appeared in a sort of shock, gazing at something past their shoulders, and they'd have taken him straight back to the hospital wing if he hadn't opened his mouth and spoken what he did five seconds later.

'Who's that?'

Remus, Sirius and Peter turned and surveyed the common room. It was starting to clear out, as students were leaving for their morning classes. Those who were left were either older students, who had free period that morning and were lounging by the window or younger students, nearly late, waiting by the dormitory staircases for their friends to come down so they could depart.

Yet, James' gaze was fixed on a figure by the fireplace. She was sitting cross-legged on one of the one-seat sofas and was reading an Advanced Potions textbook, while occasionally glancing up at the girls' dormitory staircase. Her shoulder-length hair was pulled back into a ponytail that, in the light of the flames of the fireplace and in contrast to her ivory skin, appeared to be ignited.

Sirius paused and then gave a loud bark-like laugh.

'See that?' he said with a grin to Remus and Peter, who were both sniggering as well. He jerked a thumb towards Evans and shook his head pitifully at James. 'Now that's something. The bloke forgets everything—every bloody thing about himself—and he's still got it in for Evans.'

'Who is that?' repeated James, though finally out of his stupor.

The girl was now being joined by two others, friends of hers. He saw her eyes light up at their arrival as she stood up, smoothed her skirt and picked up her rucksack, stowing away the textbooks she'd previously been reading. James stayed perfectly still as she walked past him without noticing, her eyes—green, he saw, bright green like emeralds—fixed on the friend on her left, who seemed to be describing an elaborate story.

The portrait door had closed shut, but James still found himself staring at it when Sirius swung an arm over his shoulder.

'That, my friend,' he said with a smirk and mischievous glint in his eye. 'Is Miss Lily Evans… the love of your sad and pathetic life.'

Sad and pathetic or not, James found his .lips form into a wide grin.

'I can't believe it,' marvelled Peter. 'He still remembers that same stupid grin he does whenever Evans is around!'

* * *

Sirius slipped into Transfiguration early that day to find Evans and Ramnath already sitting in the second row. He took a seat directly behind the former, and gave a short tap on her shoulder.

'Psst! Evans.'

And as though this same scenario had played out multiple times before, Lily gave a loud annoyed groan.

'What? What do you want this time?' asked Lily, and she and Kalah turned round in their seats.

'Good morning to you too, sunshine,' said Sirius, holding up a hand in greeting. 'I just thought you should know, our mate, James—'

'Our mate?' interrupted Lily dubiously.

'—our mate and housemate, James, has been caught in the midst of some unfortunate spellwork—'

'—I daresay it serves him right for what he did to Severus last week—'

'—and he's lost his memory.'

'No!'

It was Kalah who had shouted the last, jumping onto her feet and clutching her head in panic. 'It's Gryffindor versus Slytherin on Saturday! How the bloody hell are we going to play without a Chaser?'

Lily stared at her, bewildered.

Sirius smirked. 'Don't get your knickers in a twist, darling. It's only temporary.'

'Oh.' Kalah sat down. 'Well, how long, then?'

Sirius shrugged. 'Lambridge says about two or three days, at the most. But we're trying to keep this within Gryffindor so don't spread it around alright? Remus already conned James out of five Galleons this morning and with his memory loss, James isn't going to know who to trust. We'd rather the other houses didn't find out, especially with that Quidditch game coming up.'

'How'd it happen?' asked Lily, and her voice sounded professional, as though examining a crime.

'Memory charm gone wrong. Now that you mention it, I've got to go find that rotten bugger who cast the spell. I'll show him a Memory charm…'

Lily was turning around distastefully when Sirius called, 'wait—Evans.'

Lily paused, raising an eyebrow and Sirius leant forward.

'Listen. He's not himself, alright? He doesn't know who Snivellus is, nor does he remember harming a single hair on his greasy little head. So go easy on him, yeah?'

Lily narrowed her eyes. 'What do you mean?'

'I mean, when he comes to speak with you, at least try to be cordial.'

She raised an eyebrow. 'Why would he come speak with me?'

Now both Sirius and Kalah had glints in their eyes. 'Believe me, Evans. He will.'

Lily surveyed him for a while, as though contemplating what to say next. Finally: 'I'm always cordial.'

Sirius grinned. 'That's fair. I s'pose you'd be nicer to my mates and I if we didn't keep wrecking the castle and giving you prefects more work, hm? But remember—James has no idea he's helped wreck the castle.'

The bell rang just then, welcoming students as they began to file into the room. Sirius stood up, and with a sort of flourish and wave, he proceeded to his regular seat at the back of the classroom, and Lily and Kalah turned to face front once more.

It wasn't long before Sirius's prediction came true.

'Er—hi.'

Lily was in the common room sofa when Potter finally managed to find her. Classes had ended for the day and the room was mostly empty, considering that the younger years had all gone up to bed. Only a few students remained, finishing up homework and assignments. Lily was one of these students, attempting to start an Arithmancy essay that was due later that week. She was reaching into her rucksack to pull out her Arithmancy textbook when she heard a rather nervous-sounding voice speak. She glanced up to find that standing before her was none other than James Potter.

Potter.' Lily looked around her and past his shoulder for any sign of Black, Remus or Pettigrew, but it seemed as though Potter was very much alone. 'Er—evening.'

Potter had stuffed his hands into his pockets and was looking slightly lost, as though some unexplainable force had brought him there, and now that he'd reached his destination, he didn't know quite what to do with himself.

'Er—right,' said Lily, realizing that she honestly did not know how to speak with Potter when he was like this. 'Black told me you lost your memory… er, so I suppose I'll introduce myself. I'm—'

'Lily,' finished James for her. 'I—Sirius told me.'

'Oh. Okay.' The silence that followed showed every inclination of becoming awkward, so Lily found herself jumping into the subject she reserved for conversation with students she didn't know—students she met and spoke with around Hogwarts during her days as a Gryffindor Prefect. That subject, specifically and quite unfortunately, was schoolwork.

'Well, er—how are you finding Professor Flitwick's essay? I suppose you haven't an idea how to start, since you've lost your—'

'Frank—' Lily jerked to a stop as James interrupted her. 'Frank told me you don't like me very much.'

If Lily was expecting anything, it certainly wasn't this. This behaviour was very unlike the James Potter she knew; he was being insecure, vulnerable, confused. What was he playing at? Unsure how to respond, Lily flipped through her Arithmancy textbook uncomfortably, attempting to find the chapter she needed for the essay.

'Why?' came Potter's voice again.

Lily rested her textbook on her lap and looked up at him. 'Well,' she said slowly, carefully, as though unsure how to phrase this in a way that was both civil and honest. 'I suppose you're not—you weren't a very nice person.'

James blinked, appearing thoroughly shocked. 'Was I mean to you?'

'Yes. Well—' Lily paused, and suddenly it occurred to her that Potter never once spoke ill to her. Sure, he teased her enough during first year, but then again, everybody teased everybody else in first year—it was simply how it was. Perhaps Black had picked on her once in a while afterward, but Potter really had only one target—Severus Snape. Still, this target meant quite a great deal to Lily.

'No,' she replied, changing her answer. 'But you were mean to one of my best friends. You were a bully, I suppose. And a rather big-headed and arrogant one at that… and well, I suppose we don't get on very well because of that.'

It was surreal, having this conversation. This was Potter, except that it wasn't. It was as though someone had stripped away the arrogance, the self-superiority, the everything Lily had spent years despising, leaving—what exactly?

'I bullied your friend,' repeated James, his face devoid of emotion, yet appearing rather pensive.

'Well, yes. You and Black bullied his entire House. You charmed his pumpkin juice to do dreadful things, you locked Severus in the girls' loo one time, it was horrid, you…'

James appeared sick. He had always thought he knew himself quite well, but this account of Lily's memories about him seemed entirely foreign to him.

'I—'

'Look,' said Lily suddenly, surprising herself with her own tenacity. She paused, observing him with cautious eyes before sighing resolutely. 'Don't worry about it, alright?'

It wasn't that she'd forgiven Potter and wanted to now be best mates—far from it. But this person in front of her simply did not seem like the Potter she knew. He was far too nervous, confused and unsure. And certainly subdued. Blaming Potter's downfalls on this memory-lacking individual simply felt futile.

'I mean,' continued Lily, keen to make herself clear. 'I'm not making excuses for you or anything. You were a rotten person, and I didn't like you very much at all, but you don't—you don't remember. So I suppose I can hardly hold it against you, now can I?'

'I'm sorry.'

And Lily, who had never heard Potter apologise, except to Severus that one time when he yelled, 'Sorry you forgot to shower this morning, Snivellus!' and unleashed Zonko's finest on him, was in a bit of a shock at this proclamation.

'Potter, I—'

'Lily!'

Lily jumped. At the middle of the staircase to the girls' dormitories stood Marlene Sanders, waving at her cheerfully. She noticed that Lily wasn't particularly alone and faltered. 'Oh—sorry, I hadn't realised…'

'No,' interrupted Lily, already getting to her feet. 'It's nothing—' She was suddenly aware of her surroundings. She and Potter were the only ones left in the common room.

'Er—' said Marlene, glancing between James and Lily. 'We're starting a game of Exploding Snap upstairs, and Alice asked me to come down and check if you wanted to play.'

'Sure, Marlene,' said Lily, already beginning to gather her things and deposit them into the rucksack next to her chair. 'I'll be up in a bit.'

Marlene nodded before turning to James. 'Alright, James?'

James blinked and paused for a moment before realizing he was being addressed. 'Er—yeah. Hullo.'

'I heard what happened. I'm Marlene. I play Seeker on our Quidditch team. Do me a favour and get better before the next game, yeah? Johnson—that's our captain—he'll have a cow if we're short a Chaser when we face Slytherin. Dorcas and Titchy have already been keeping him away from you all day—he'll drown himself in the lake if he found out you don't know what a Quaffle is this close to the match.'

James chuckled. 'I honestly don't.'

Marlene grinned. 'Good luck, mate. Right, I'm heading upstairs. Night, James. See you upstairs, Lily.'

And with a bright wave, Marlene departed upstairs, leaving Lily with James and another prolonged silence.

'Well—' said Lily, glancing from the rucksack in her hand to James.

'Yeah.'

'I suppose I have to go, so—'

'Can I—can I talk you again? Just… later. Talk.' Potter appeared so earnest that Lily didn't have the heart to refuse or convulse with disgust.

And so she found herself nodding numbly. 'Yeah, okay. I suppose.'

James' grin was brilliant just then, stretching from one side of his face to the other, his eyes bright behind his glasses.

'Goodnight, Lily.'

Lily mumbled a greeting in response as she trailed to the staircase and up to the dormitory in a confused daze as he stood below and watched with the same elated grin etched upon his face.

* * *

It was early morning when James awoke the next day. Sirius, Remus, Peter and Frank were still fast asleep (and heavily snoring, the lot of them), when James rolled out of bed and glanced out his window, watching as the sun slowly inched up the horizon over the hoops of the Quidditch pitch viewed in the distance.

The Great Hall wasn't full at all that morning. James, there for an extremely early breakfast, found himself enjoying quite a bit of space along the bench on the Gryffindor table. A group of seventh-years sat on one end, all of whom seemed to be nurturing mugs of coffee as they put their heads together and muttered in what seemed to be an early morning study session.

There was quite a few Ravenclaws awake at this hour, but James supposed they were all simply early risers (though he was certain Sirius would call them keeners). The Hufflepuff table was entirely empty, and James imagined Remus telling him that Hufflepuffs were late risers or some other basic fact that he may have forgotten the day before. Two tall boys sat at the Slytherin table, slouched over and looking rather irritable. James couldn't imagine why, especially when he caught sight of the fresh plate of bacon that suddenly appeared onto the table from thin air.

He was biting into his second omelette sandwich when he heard a voice from behind.

'Morning, James.'

James looked around and found yet another unfamiliar face. 'Er—morning.'

She was a short girl with shoulder-length brown hair pulled into a half-ponytail and light freckles splashed across her face. 'Do you remember me?' she asked, with what seemed to be a hopeful expression.

'Sorry,' apologized James. 'I had a run-in last morning, see—'

'So it's true, then, what everyone's saying?' asked the girl. 'You've lost your memory?'

James grinned sheepishly. ''Fraid so. Though,' he indicated to the empty space on the bench next to him, 'if you'd reintroduce yourself, maybe it'd jog my memory.'

The brown-haired girl smiled a rather charming smile and took a seat.

'Orange juice?' asked James, grabbing the pitcher and pouring into a goblet next to the girl.

'You remembered!' said the girl, with a grin. 'It's my favourite.'

James appeared delighted. 'Excellent. My memory's coming back already!' He passed her the goblet, replaced the orange juice pitcher and turned to her again. 'Right. So if you'd introduce yourself…'

'Sure. My name is Betty Braithwaite…'

James nodded intelligently, his expression as though he were mentally taking notes as he took a bite out of his sandwich.

'… and I'm your girlfriend.'

James nearly choked on his food.


	10. Betty Braithwaite

_**A/N – **__I'm starting to think my updates are severely restricted to during the holidays – winter, spring, summer, whenever, as long as classes have ended. And in following that shameful pattern, here's the next chapter. I haven't heard back from the betas yet, but I didn't want to make you all wait longer than I had to. I apologize in advance for the horrible typos or errors I've most likely made, and I will update the document once the betas send over the edited version. _

___**Disclaimer: **__This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J. K. Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended._

* * *

"_**Life seems but a quick succession of busy nothings."  
**__**- Jane Austen**_

* * *

'My name's Betty Braithwaite, and I'm your girlfriend.'

James' omelette sandwich nearly lodged itself in his throat. He cleared it, eyes watering, and took a gulp of pumpkin juice before turning to Betty with a startled expression on his face.

'My what?' he stuttered, eyes agog.

'I'm your girlfriend,' said Betty calmly, passing him a napkin and swiping a hand over his back as he took another gulp from his goblet.

James stared at her in horror, unable to process the information. It seemed entirely implausible that this girl, Betty Braithwaite, should be his girlfriend. After all, James kept remembering the girl in the common room—Lily Evans. He liked her; he was sure of it. So why—how could he have possibly asked out another bird?

James lamented the loss of his memory at that moment, unable to piece together the bits of his life that seemed foreign.

He surveyed Betty from the corner of his eyes as a grabbed a crumpet from across the table; something was off about the situation. After all, if James had a girlfriend, wouldn't his supposed best friend, Sirius Black, have told him? Why would Sirius have told him that Lily Evans was the 'love of his sad and pathetic life'? None of it fit. James was quick to voice his concerns.

'But—but Sirius said—'

He was cut short by Betty's sharp intake of breath. 'No,' she whispered. 'You talked to Black? No, not him.'

'What?' said James blankly as Betty moved her hands from off his back and on either side of her freckled face frantically. 'Not him.'

James watched her anxiously. 'What? What's wrong with Sirius? Er—Betty, are you okay?'

The sound of her name must have snapped her back to normalcy, because she turned to him suddenly, her eyes piercing into his, and her jaw set determinedly. 'Listen to me, James. Sirius Black. You can't trust him.'

James blinked. 'Why not? He was my best mate, wasn't he?'

'No!' said Betty, her voice coming out shrill. She put her hands on his shoulders and shook him slightly. 'No, please James, listen to me. Don't let him manipulate you again. He's lying to you!'

James was never good with tears. Perhaps he lost his memory, but he still retained the innate sense of self that told him that the growing moisture on the corners of Betty's eyes was not particularly a good sign. James knew he had to do something.

'Okay,' he said, placing his own hand on Betty's shoulder in an attempt to calm her. 'Okay. Just relax, alright?'

She nodded shakily in response, making an attempt to compose herself.

'Okay,' said James. 'Now what's wrong with Sirius?'

Betty scowled. 'Merlin, I can't stand him.' She sighed. 'You were right about one thing, James. Sirius Black was your best friend. But he isn't anymore.'

James furrowed his brow. 'Why's that?'

'Because,' said Betty, and while she seemed reluctant, she looked him directly in the eye, 'he went out with Lily Evans.'

James jolted at the name. 'He what?' he croaked.

Betty appeared slightly downcast as she spoke. 'Lily Evans. You might have seen her around, she's in Gryffindor too. See, you and I have been going out for a year, but that, you fancied Lily for a while.'

James' heart thumped wildly in his chest. 'I did?'

Betty rolled her eyes. 'It's what you told me when we started going out. You fancied Lily for ages, everyone knew that, but then she started going out with Sirius Black, your best mate.' She spat the two last words. 'He went behind your back, James, and you both duelled it out in the Great Hall during the Halloween feast last year. You were in the hospital wing for two days and the two of you haven't spoken since. At the beginning of this year, Black tried to make up with you. I suppose he and Evans broke up over the summer. You wouldn't listen to him and he didn't like that. The next day, he—he asked me to Hogsmeade.' Betty narrowed her eyes bitterly, looking away. 'You and I were already going out by then, but that didn't stop him from trying to snog me.'

James gripped the edge of the table, but Betty grabbed his hands quickly, smoothing out the tight muscles with her hands. She smiled at him.

'Don't worry. I hexed him something fierce, came to you and then you hexed him worse.' Betty giggled. 'It was adorable, really. I didn't realize how protective you were of me until that happened.'

James found himself fond of Betty already.

'Anyway, we don't talk to Black anymore. And—' she added, intertwining her fingers with his, '—we're reaching our 15-month anniversary.'

James nodded numbly. 'So then... Lily Evans...'

'What about her?' said Betty sharply. 'You are over her, aren't you? That's what you told me when we started dating.'

'I—'

'Lily's nice, of course. I haven't got a problem with her at all. I'm not a possessive girlfriend, it's just that I wasn't sure if you were lying to me last year when you told me you didn't like her anymore. Do you?" She gave a vulnerable half-smile.

James considered Betty, her dark brown, shoulder-length hair and light freckles splashed over her nose, and after her story, she appeared to him rather familiar. He'd had her by his side for a year, this girl, and in his memory loss, he'd been staring after a girl, Lily Evans, who'd helped his former best friend betray him.

James leant forward and kissed Betty on the cheek. 'Of course I don't. How could I when I have you?'

Betty beamed. 'Whew, I was worried there for a second. I thought for sure you were going to say yes. After all, you've lost your memory. It was the best chance I had to get the truth out of you, yeah?'

James laughed.

'Now off you go,' added Betty. 'You've got Potions first thing and Slughorn hates late students.

'Gotcha.'

'Remember what I said, yeah?' called Betty as James stood to leave. 'Watch out for Black?'

James nodded curtly, and with one fleeting lopsided grin, he departed.

* * *

It wasn't until supper later that day that Lily discovered the news about Potter's newest girlfriend. In fact, Betty Braithwaite became a sensation within hours amongst the eligible birds in Hogwarts, though none were particularly pleased with the news.

'Betty Braithwaite,' Doris Cockford was saying. The Hufflepuffs had migrated over to the Gryffindor table that morning along with several others, to discuss the new turn of events. 'I can't believe it. Betty.'

'No fair,' pouted Greta Catchlove, a girl from Ravenclaw. 'I would've asked him out sooner if I thought he'd say yes.'

'Then why didn't you?' said Kalah in an annoyed voice as she stabbed mid-yawn into her porridge with her spoon.

'Because he'd say no,' said Greta, as though it were obvious. 'Everyone knows he fancied Lily since third year.'

'But Betty?' insisted Doris.

'Oh, shut up Doris,' put in Cynthia Cattermole from Ravenclaw. 'You're only bitter because she got to James Potter before you did.'

'Well, this is nice, isn't it?' said Titchy loftily from Kalah's other side. 'That Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs alike can get together to discuss a piece of gossip?'

Kalah snorted milk from her nostrils, after which both Marlene and Titchy began to chant 'snort!' from the top of their lungs, a habit they'd gained one day after Quidditch practice together.

It was during this loud ruckus that Lily arrived to breakfast with Alice. The latter held up her Arithmancy textbook sheepishly as she took the seat opposite Kalah. 'It was under the bed the whole time,' she said. 'Lily found it.'

Lily took a victorious bow.

Kalah grinned. 'Always losing the textbooks, aren't you?'

Alice shook her head. 'I don't know how it happens. I come back from class, but them somewhere and then forget the next morning where I'd kept them. 'Anyway, what were you lot talking about?'

'Ah... the real question is,' said Kalah, 'to what piece of gossip do we owe this gathering of Houses?'

Lily nodded to her. 'Yeah, that.'

Doris and Greta exchanged looks before glancing towards Lily anxiously.

'What is it?' asked Lily curiously as she buttered a piece of toast

Doris cleared her throat. 'James Potter has a new girlfriend. Betty Braithwaite. She's been telling anyone who would listen.'

'Is that so?' Lily took a large bit out of her toast contentedly. Then she paused, looking up slowly.

'Doris asked James herself,' chirped Greta.

'You asked him?' asked Lily, her voice odd.

'Yeah, why?'

Lily cleared her throat. 'No reason. Did he... seem himself?'

Kalah turned to Lily suddenly, as though remembering at that moment that James Potter had lost his memory.

Greta shrugged. 'I suppose. As charming as ever. Why?'

Lily shrugged.

'I guess you should have gone to Slughorn's party with him after all?' said Doris gently.

Lily burst out laughing before she got the chance to put a piece of waffle into her mouth. She waved the waffle-pieced fork at them. 'Don't worry about me. I couldn't care less who resident git James Potter was dating.' She popped the piece into her mouth. 'Merlin, these are heavenly.'

Greta and Doris once again exchanged nervous glasses and Lily grabbed a goblet of pumpkin juice and downed it in one.

'Besides,' said Lily. 'What I told Potter was nothing but the truth. I didn't go out with him because he makes me physically sick, not because I was playing hard to get.'

'Oh, come off it, Lily!' said Doris. 'You're not telling me you'd never go out with him.'

'Just you wait, Lily,' said Greta. 'You'll fall for that Potter charm one of these days.'

Lily laughed, choked on her waffle, and Kalah, Marlene and Titchy all started to chant 'Choke!' from the top of their lungs.

* * *

'Since when did he start going out with Betty Braithwaite!'

While the news of James' new association with the Ravenclaw was a sensation for much of Hogwarts, it was a living nightmare for one Sirius Black. Ever since the day after he'd lost his memory, James had been acting odd and aloof among the company of his friends and refused to engage the topic of his discontentment when asked. Next thing Sirius knew, Stacey McKinnon was telling him at lunch that she heard from her brother John, who heard it from his Potions partner, Annie, who heard it from her cousin, Greta Catchlove, that James Potter was dating Betty Braithwaite. The news came as somewhat of a shock to Sirius, Remus and Peter, who had all been exposed to James' utter infatuation with Lily Evans in previous years. Now, Sirius was pacing across his dormitory while Remus glanced at him from over his book and while Peter looking in front of him at the half-played game of Wizard's Chess in the midst of which Sirius had abandoned him.

'But how? He's still got it in for Evans, so what made him jump the wand and suddenly make him—how could a day apart from us make Prongs into—into—' He grasped at the air for words.

'Mr Betty Braithwaite?' supplied Peter.

Sirius pointed at him with emphasis. 'Exactly! We didn't see him this morning and he wasn't talking to us during Transfiguration. I just figured he was having trouble making conversation since he's gone and forgotten us all. But none of him have seen him since. He didn't even tell me that he was dating bloody Braithwaite!'

Remus put down his book. 'So then the change must have occurred between early morning and Transfiguration after lunch. That leaves us with a seven-hour gap of transformation from six in the morning to one in the afternoon. We've all agreed that none of us had seen Prongs within that time—'

'He didn't even show up to lunch,' said Peter. 'It was weird having him not compete for the roast beef with me.' Sirius patted his shoulder sympathetically.

'Maybe we should ask Betty,' said Remus diplomatically. 'She's the only factor that's changed since James lost his memory.

'Right,' said Sirius, heading for the door. 'I'll go settle this right now.'

* * *

'Oye—Lily. Care to explain why you're staring over at Gryffindor's finest Chaser and his newest lady love?'

Lily whirled round to face Kalah, appearing mortified. 'What! I wasn't—'

Kalah turned the page of her DADA textbook with a smug grin. 'I'm so sure.'

Lily shoved Kalah playfully on the arm. 'You know why. Am I the only one who finds that odd?'

Kalah looked up from her textbook. 'What do you mean?' Wait—don't tell me Greta Catchlove was right. Have you fallen for the charm of one James Potter?'

Lily rolled her eyes. 'Oh, spare me. Of course not, you Pygmy Puff. Honestly, is everyone expecting me to suddenly have feelings for Potter once he starts dating another girl?'

Kalah shrugged. 'It'd make a brilliantly cheesy love story, wouldn't it?'

Lily rolled her eyes. 'I'm sure Alice is more suited to those.'

Kalah frowned. 'Alice? What do you mean?'

Lily faltered. 'Er—nothing, never mind. You know her and her Witch Weekly. That's the sort of stories they have there, yeah?'

Kalah shrugged. 'So why the staring, Lily?' she asked instead, jerking her thumb towards James.

Lily leant in towards Kalah. 'Well, I realize it's none of my business. But isn't it odd? Betty Braithwaite tells Doris Crockford in Charms last week that she wished she'd gotten a chance to ask Potter to Slughorn's Christmas party to make Chris Humphrey jealous. And then a week later, Potter loses his memory and he's dating her?'

Kalah shrugged. 'Maybe she got to him while he was on a fresh start.'

'Maybe,' mused Lily. 'But something seems off about this whole thing. Anyway,' added Lily, flipping through her book. 'It's not like any of this is my business, yeah?'

Kalah remained quiet, as though unsure what to say, until a distraction in the form of Sirius Black arrived in the common room. Black appeared determined in his mannerisms, and his confident march towards Potter and Braithwaite succeeded in attracting both Lily and Kalah's attention.

'Why the rush,' muttered Kalah. Lily shrugged in reply. They watched as Potter, Black and Braithwaite had a conversation they could not hear. Potter and Braithwaite were initially cold, and Black polite. They spoke for a while and Lily watched as both Potter and Black grew progressively angrier. Finally, Black shot a spiteful look towards Braithwaite and made a comment, after which Potter stood up lightning-fast. Black held his ground, and Potter spoke for a bit before Black, appearing suddenly shocked, turned and stormed away.

Kalah let out a low whistle. 'Trouble in paradise?'

Lily closed her textbook, packing her things for astronomy that day. 'There's an understatement.'

* * *

Astronomy class ended particularly late that night, and as she walked up the castle steps alone after having taken a short stop at the lavatory, Lily began to rethink her decision to keep astronomy as a subject for the next year. It was past curfew, and only the few lamps on the wall kept the hallway in the dark castle alit.

Lily reached into her robes and pulled out her wand. Despite the fact that she knew Hogwarts was a generally safe place, the eerie and ominous atmosphere of the flickering lighted hallway prompted her to prepare for danger; Lily found herself taking tentative steps.

She heard a shuffling as she neared the corridor where the Fat Lady's portrait was hung. She froze in her steps and whirled around towards the sound, the wand held tighter in her hand than ever before. When she didn't see anything, she hastened her steps towards the Gryffindor common room, eager to shake off the feeling of being watched. It was only when Lily turned the corner that she heard the hiss.

'Lily!'

'Oh my God!'

There was a loud bang and a squeal and suddenly Lily couldn't scream anymore. A large hand clamped roughly against her mouth and an arm snaked round her body, gripping her wand hand and rendering her unable to fire any more spells.

Lily attempted to use her free arm to free herself, thrusting her elbow backward in an attempt to make contact with the attacker's ribs. She missed, and a short back-like chuckling filled her ears.

Lily froze. Her attacker's head bent down next to hers and Lily saw Sirius Black's face grinning down at her. Remus emerged from the shadows.

'Lily,' he said gravely. 'We need your help.'

Lily blinked, relaxing considerably at the sight of her fellow Prefect and friend. 'Remus!' she gasped with relief, but her voice came out muffled against Black's hand. Satisfied that she was no longer going to scream, Black dropped the hand against her mouth.

'What's the big idea!'

'Now, now, Evans,' said Black pleasantly, still restricting her movements and her wand work with the arm round her middle. 'You wouldn't want to wake up the entire castle, now would you? Not especially since it is officially past curfew and we are wandering castle walls.'

Lily clamped her mouth shut and shot Black a loathing look. He chuckled in response.

'Oh my God,' he repeated curiously. 'That was very Muggle of you, by the way.'

Lily shot him a dirty look. 'I am a Muggle-born, aren't I?'

'Oh yeah, I keep forgetting.'

'Care to let me go, git? What do you want, anyway?'

'Certainly I'll let you go—but I'm going to need your word that you'll cooperate.'

Lily looked to Remus for help, but he shrugged with the air of someone who had given up trying to control his mates. He seemed preoccupied somehow, and was scanning the ground, grasping at the air oddly.

Lily sighed. 'Cooperate how exactly?' she said curtly.

'Just hear us out is all,' said Black pleasantly.

'Fine. Now let go.'

Black grinned impishly. 'As you wish.' He dropped his hands and stepped back, dusting them against each other with a victorious air. 'Alright, so what we need you help with is—'

But what Black needed help with Lily did not find out because he became suddenly rigid as a board, and appearing entirely shell-shocked, he topped to the floor. Lily stood over him brandishing her wand. She then stowed it and dusted her own hands in a mocking victorious manner. 'The full-body bind. Not very fun, is it?'

Remus snorted from behind her. 'Good one.'

'He had it coming.' Lily turned to him, appearing curious as he continued to grasp at air. 'Er, Remus—what are you doing?'

Remus gave a wry grin. 'Trying to find Peter.' He gave a chuckle. 'He's the one who was following you.'

Lily wrinkled her brow in confusion. 'But, how—oh!' Her clouded expression cleared as she remembered a very rare object. 'Potter's Invisibility cloak.'

'Unfortunately, yes. Sirius nicked it. The thing is, when Sirius over there decided to pop out from the shadows, he startled you, and I think you might have fired a spell. Any idea what it was?'

Lily shook her head. 'I don't know, I just panicked.'

Remus shrugged. 'Well, he hasn't appeared, so most likely he's unconscious and around here somewhere—ah.'

And in one fluid movement, Remus reached down and made a pulling notion. A silvery cloak extended from his fingers and once it was balled up in his hand, Lily could see the unconscious figure of Peter Pettigrew lying on the ground.

Remus bent to examine him and then turned to Lily with a small smile. 'Don't worry, he's only Stunned. _Enervate_.'

Pettigrew's eyelids fluttered open and he sat up, appearing dazed.

'Sorry Pettigrew,' said Lily sheepishly. 'You startled me.'

Pettigrew nodded slowly, his gaze taking in his surroundings. When it stopped at Black's frozen figure, he jerked a thumb towards it. 'What happened to—'

Lily cleared her throat. 'That was me too, though not an accident.'

Pettigrew gave a loud guffaw at this piece of news. 'Excellent!'

Lily grinned despite herself, and found herself in good enough spirits to turn to Remus and ask, 'Right. So what is it you lot need from me?'

'Right,' said Remus. 'Sorry about this, by the way, Lily. We wanted to be able to talk to you when you were on your own and you weren't in the common room—Mary MacDonald said you were at astronomy, so we thought we'd wait for you. It was Sirius' idea to jump out at you just now; he thought you'd hex the lot of us if he didn't, and I suppose he was right to an extent.' He gestured toward Peter helplessly. 'You did get Peter, after all.'

Lily grinned sheepishly.

'OK,' said Remus. 'What we need your help with is—and don't make a decision right away—w were wondering if you could talk to James for us.'

Lily blinked, looking from Remus to Pettigrew, who was now dusting himself off as he stood up. 'James? You mean Potter? Why?'

'Well, you know he's not himself,' said Remus, always quick to defend his mates. 'He's lost his memory, so he's fairly vulnerable at the moment and—'

'He's not talking to us,' said Pettigrew. 'He hasn't talked to us since last night and we're fairly certain he's mad at us about something.'

'How do you mean?'

'He told me he never wanted to see me again.'

The voice came from their right and Lily, Remus and Pettigrew all turned to see Black slowly get to his feet, the full-body bind finally having worn off. 'Nice one, by the way, Evans. Anyway, James and I have fought plenty of times, and we really go at it sometimes, ready to break limbs if we have to—but he's never said that to me. Memory loss or no, this time's different. The thing is, he's mad and none of us know why. He won't speak with any of us, and he's dating Betty Braithwaite now. There's something off about that bird too,' added Black scratching the back of his head. 'The way she was glaring at me earlier today, you'd think—'

'Yeah,' mused Lily. 'In the common room, right? I saw the lot of you arguing.'

Black scoffed. 'That's an understatement. James nearly bit my head off today. Told me I'd lied to him, that I'd backstabbed him. Couldn't even get in a word myself, and that little bitc—'

'—what he means,' interrupted Remus, 'is that James is going to get his memory back one of these days and find himself in a very precarious situation, dating Betty Braithwaite without knowing why, and estranging himself form his friends. We just want to make sure he's okay. That's all.'

'And what exactly did you want me to do about it?'

'Talk to him?' suggested Pettigrew.

'He's obviously not going to listen to us,' said Black moodily. 'But he'll listen to you.'

'What makes you think—'

'He always held you in high regard when he lost his memory,' said Remus gently. 'We're confident that hasn't changed.'

Lily considered him for a moment before letting out a sig. 'And what exactly am I supposed to tell him? Don't date Betty Braithwaite for a few days?' she added sarcastically. 'How do you suppose that's going to look on my part?'

'Like a jealous hag,' said Pettigrew amicably.

Lily shot him a look.

'I suppose you could just talk to him about what's been going on recently. Ask him how he's coping with his memory loss and ask him if his friends are helping him adjust. That'll give you the perfect in to find out why he's been so off with us lately.'

Sirius gave a hopeless shrug. 'Well, Evans? Will you help us?'

Lily looked upon the three pitiful faces before her. 'Fine,' she said, feeling as though she'd just agreed to donate a million galleons to St. Mungo's from the happy faces she was getting from them. 'I'll do it.'

* * *

When she woke up the next morning, Lily completely forgot about her encounter with Sirius Black and his mates for a total of four and a half seconds before her memory came flooding back to her. When she woke up, Kalah was in the midst of a conversation with Marlene about their uncoming Quidditch match, and to Lily, Quidditch meant Potter acting like a bigoted git for a week before and after, Potter, who lost his memory, whose friends she'd promised to help last night.

She was groaning, then, when she pushed aside the curtains of her four-poster and stumbled out of bed.

'Well, it depends on how behind we are,' Marlene was saying. 'Ravenclaw lost to Slytherin by only 30 points, but Hufflepuff beat Slytherin by 55 last month, so I should probably hold out on catching the Snitch until we're at least 60 points ahead, yeah?'

'But don't forget—Ravenclaw also beat Slytherin before the hols—' said Kalah. 'By 20 poitns too, which makes it easier for us. Will said we'll probably—all right, Lily?'

Lily yawned as she stood up and stretched. 'Yeah,' she said. 'Just tired.'

Sure enough, Lily had gotten into her dormitory quite late the night before. After she agreed to help Sirius Black help James Potter, the three mates prepared her about the situation.

'She's been feeding him lies, I'm sure of it,' Black had said as he paced. 'James kept talking about betrayal, but he wouldn't say what, and Braithwaite kept nodding throughout.'

Lily had sighed at the entire situation. 'Wouldn't it be easier if you just went to a professor and got the whole thing sorted out?' she asked matter-of-factly.

'Yeah, sure,' Black had scoffed. 'How would that go, exactly? Er—Professor McGonagall, Betty Braithwaite is dating our mate, James Potter. Mind giving her a detention?'

Peter laughed under his breath until Lily gave him a look that cut his laughter short.

'We did go to Professor McGonagall though, Lily,' said Remus. 'When James first lost his memory. She told us the spell was likely cast by an inexperienced witch or wizard, and that it'll run out on its own in a few days. He's our problem until then.'

Lily looked between the three of them, puzzled. 'Well, if it'll run out in a few days, what's the problem? He'll wake up one of these days the same berk I've known for five years, and then he can decide on his own whether to chuck Betty, can't he?'

'Trust me, Evans,' Black had said. 'If James wakes up tomorrow morning the same berk we loved since first year, he'd murder the lot of us for having let us date Betty Braithwaite. That's why. In fact, I'm not even too sure he'd be keen on your help, but we didn't have much of a choice, see.'

'So how exactly am I supposed to talk to him if Braithwaite's a problem?

'Don't you worry about that,' Black had said with an impish grin. 'We'll take care of that one.'

Lily didn't know what that meant, but she supposed she trusted Black in that regard. Anyway, she wasn't invested enough in the situation to carry it out with perfection.

'Coming, Lily?'

Lily jumped, realizing with a start that Kalah and Marlene were already dressed, and were looking at her expectantly.

'Yeah,' she said, hurrying towards the bathroom. 'Give me a sec.'

All through breakfast, Lily attempted to think of reasonable things to say to Potter.

_So... You're dating Betty Braithwaite, I hear..._

No. Not so obvious.

_It's been the talk of the school._

Please. As though she'd care about something like that.

_You know, your friends have been worried about you lately_.

Perfect.

Lily was finishing up a slice of toast when she saw a head of messy black hair leave the Great Hall. She got to her feet.

'What's wrong, Lily?' asked Alice mildly.

Lily considered, staring at the exit. It was probably best to get this over with. That way, she wouldn't have it over her head. Her job would be done and that would be the end of that.

'Nothing,' she said in response. 'But—I'll be right back.'

She took fast strides until she was in the Entrance Hall, considering which direction Potter had gone. Perhaps she was too late. She was turning to return to the Great Hall when she heard voices. Lily followed them to a small corridor on the right. She turned a corner, hoping to catch Potter when she inadvertently caught a lot more of Potter than she'd wanted.

'Oh—'

He was wrapped around Betty Braithwaite in a tight embrace, holding her up against the stone wall and snogging her, while her greedy hands roamed about. They broke apart suddenly at the interruption, appearing stunned.

Lily turned away quickly. 'Sorry!' she squealed, her voice pitched oddly higher than normal. She strode away quickly, her cheeks flaming red, ignoring Potter's calls after her.

'Lily? Lily, wait—'

She'd turned the corner before he got any more words out.

* * *

Lily was in Ancient Runes that morning, waiting for her lesson to begin when Sirius Black stopped by her bench.

'What happened?' he asked.

Lily stared at him. 'You're not in this class, you know,' she said.

'Never mind that. I saw you follow James out at breakfast. You didn't come back.'

Lily flipped through her textbook idly. 'Hm, I wasn't hungry anymore.' She made a face of distaste. 'I was nauseous, see. Are you sure you want to break up Potter and Braithwaite?'

Black raised an eyebrow. 'What do you mean?' he asked.

'I don't know,' she said loftily. 'They seemed to _really_ like each other when I walked in on them today.'

'Argh!' Black recoiled backward. 'He didn't—'

'You know, I'm starting to think I'm not getting paid enough for this job. Well, I'm not getting paid at all, but with the damages I faced today—'

'Jealous much, Evans?' said Black with a grin.

'Hardly,' shot back Lily. 'I'm just sorry I had to see Potter shove his tongue down Betty Braithwaite's throat.'

Black winced. 'He did that?'

'Well, one of them did, but I didn't intend to hang round to find out. Though, I'm sure they'd be willing to demonstrate if you asked nicely enough.'

'Er... no thanks.'

* * *

Lily had faced many awkward moments in her young life. There was the time when Petunia was talkinga bout Suzy Myer's rather unbecoming attitude and unlady-like manners when they were eight and ten respectively and playing in the park, and Suzy Myers had happened by, appearing offended. There was that time Lily had caught Professor McGonagall turning down the Minister of Magical Law Enforcement, Elphinstone Urquart, in marriage; she'd seen the man's photograph in the Daily Prophet only the week before, so seeing him on his knees in Professor McGonagall's office when she had gone in to ask a question, was more than uncomfortable at the time. There was also that time when Lily spent ten minutes explaining the nuances of the N.E.W.T.s to Mary MacDonald, after which Mary simply stared at her and stated that she actually wanted to borrow one of Lily's dried newt eyes from her potions kit.

But there was something odd about experiencing a moment, because when James Potter approached her later that day, Lily couldn't remember any of her past awkward moments, and she could have sworn that she had never felt so uncomfortable there than anywhere else.

Potter stood behind her outside the greenhouses as they waited to get into Herbology that day.

'Hi Lily,' he said.

Lily nodded awkwardly, but she felt her cheeks flame up instantly. There was an uncomfortable pause and then they both spoke at once:

'Hey, I'm sorry, I—'

'Sorry about—'

They paused again, both eliciting short awkward laughs.

'I didn't mean to—'

'We shouldn't have—'

Another pause. Lily gave an awkward smile.

'I heard a sound in the corridor when I thought everyone was at breakfast. I hadn't realized you and Betty were—'

'Uh—no, that's okay,' said Potter immediately, turning bright red himself. 'Don't apologize—we shouldn't have been out there—er—yeah.'

'Yeah.'

The uncomfortable silence rang in Lily's ears, and she turned away slightly, hoping to end this mortifying conversation. Then she remembered Black's pleas to speak with Potter regarding his condition. She turned again and found Potter regarding her oddly. She averted his gaze, waving her arms wildly.

'So—Potter—I don't mean to pry or anything, but what's the deal with you and your friends?'

Potter's expression turned into a scowl, and he stuffed his hands into his robes, turning his head to watch as the second-years filed out of the greenhouse. 'What do you mean?'

Lily cleared her throat, business-like. 'You know, Black, Lupin and Pettigrew.'

'Oh.'

'I noticed you don't hang round them anymore. What happened?'

'Nothing,' said Potter, though he sounded curt. 'I suppose I found out they weren't very good mates.'

'What makes you say that?' pressed Lily.

Potter didn't respond for a while, and Lily was very much ready to drop it, losing interest fast in Black and his cause. Then,

'Besides, you know who your real friends are by the way they treat your girlfriend. Black doesn't know how to get along with Betty, and while he may not like her, for someone who's had to put up with her being my girlfriend for the past fifteen months, he could have shown some effort.'

'Fifteen months?' echoed Lily.

'Yeah,' said Potter with a grin. 'Our anniversary's coming up.'

Lily raised an eyebrow. 'Congratulations, then.'

'Thanks.' Another grin.

'Interesting...'

* * *

Lily was about to enjoy an early supper before her meeting with Professor Slughorn regarding her extra-credit assignment, when Black ambushed her again in the common room.

'New plan, Evans.'

'Already?' Lily had begun to surprise herself at how readily she was becoming interested in Black's schemes. At first, they appeared diabolically interfering, but constantly being updated on the progress of their schemes made her begrudgingly understand the thrill of their constant pranks, disapproving of them though she may be.

'Yeah,' said Black. 'Thanks to your information. Makes sense, though, doesn't it? Of course Braithwaite would tell him he'd been chained to her for over a year. He can't remember the past six!'

Lily hummed.

'Now, we only need your help with one more thing. Care to brew us a Polyjuice potion by dinner?'

Lily stared at him, eyes agog. 'A Polyjuice—are you kidding me, those take weeks to—'

'Fine, for after dinner then—'

'No!'

'Alright, last offer, for before curfew—come on, Evans, Slughorn calls you his pet for a reason, surely—'

'He does not—what do you need a Polyjuice potion for, anyway?'

Black regarded her critically. 'We just need it.'

'Well, I can't brew it in three hours. Even if I could, I'm not sure I'd trust you with it, to be h—'

'Looks like I'll have to nick it from Slughorn, then. Thanks anyway, Evans. Cheers!'

Lily watched dumbfounded, as Black disappeared behind the portrait door. 'What?'

* * *

Sirius Black woke up the next morning with a pillow having been unceremoniously thrown at his face. He sat up immediately, brandishing the offending pillow threateningly.

'Which one of you berks—'

'Oi, Padfoot, help me find my other Quidditch glove, will you?'

Sirius dropped the pillow. 'What did you call me?'

James ignored him, throwing open his trunk and digging through it.

'Come on, I'm late for practice!'

'Prongs!'

'What?'

Sirius jumped to his feet. 'I don't believe it. You answered to Prongs.'

'Of course I did, you've been calling me that since summer.'

'You don't remember?'

'Remember what?'

Sirius regarded him, wide-eyed. 'What happened yesterday, mate?'

'What are you talking about—we Dungbombed Filch's office, didn't we?'

'Prongs, that was three days ago.'

'What?'

'It's Friday—'

'It's Friday!' Sirius strode over to Remus' four-poster bed, threw open his curtain and chucked his pillow at his sleeping mate's face. 'Oi, Moony. Tell Prongs it's Friday.'

Remus rolled over in his bed. 'It's Friday! Now go away!'

Sirius shut the curtains again.

'See?'

James' jaw dropped wide open.

* * *

'Alright, so you're telling me I lost my memory, 'said James, as he and Sirius held down the boys dormitory stairs and into the common room.

'That's right.'

'Well, that's—' James paused, having caught sight of Lily Evans curled up on one of the one-seat sofas in the far corner.

'Oi, Evans—what day is it?' he called rather obnoxiously.

Lily jumped and turned around immediately, her facial expression registering shock. Then, slowly, as though working out a difficult problem in her head, she looked from Black to Potter. 'Potter,' she said finally. 'Back, are we?'

James' grin faltered. 'It's true? I lost my memory?'

Lily rolled her eyes. 'I think I liked him better when he lost his memory.'

Sirius broke into laughter and James glowered at him, just as Kalah and Marlene came running down the stairs, donned in Quidditch wear.

'Coming to watch, James?' asked Marlene dubiously, regarding him.

'What?' replied James. 'No, we have practice, yeah?'

'Yeah,' said Marlene, appearing confused, as she glanced from Lily to James. 'But haven't you...' She gestured vaguely at her head.

'I'm not mad!' said James hotly. 'And there's nothing wrong with my memory, either. I've remembered everything.'

'Have you, now?' said Kalah, taking a few steps towards him. 'Do you remember yesterday? Or the day before?'

James scratched the back of his head. 'Well—except for the last few days. The last thing I remember is Dungbombing Filch's office on Tuesday.'

Lily rolled her eyes. 'Figures.'

'Wait,' persisted Kalah. 'Do you remember Betty Braithwaite?'

A furrow appeared between James' eyebrows. 'Who? That bird in Ravenclaw? Isn't she in our Charms?'

Kalah's jaw dropped open. 'You don't remember her? You don't remember sno—'

'Aren't you late for Quidditch, Ramnath?' said Sirius loudly, grabbing her arm wildly and directing her to the portrait door. Marlene and James followed, and as they got to the common room's exit, Lily found herself standing next to Sirius.

'Oi, Black,' she said, her arms crossed over her chest and an eyebrow raised. 'How'd you do it? Braithwaite's situation. He doesn't know?'

Sirius grinned. 'A wizard doesn't reveal his secrets,' he said.

'Sure he does,' said Lily loftily. 'Unless said wizard wants to be reported for stealing Polyjuice potion from Professor Slughorn's personal ingredients cabinet.'

Sirius laughed. 'Touché, Evans. Well...'

* * *

_In the Mad Mind of Sirius Black..._

'Hurry, Filch is gone! Pick the lock, Moony!'

'He's coming around again!'

'Wormtail, decoy!'

'Yeah, right—I still haven't recovered from gutting those flobberworms last time—'

'Moony, are you done yet?'

'Are you kidding me? This was locked by a professional Potions master who—'

'Here, try this—'

'Where did you—oi, it works! Hurry, everyone in!

...

'Let me tell you, I absolutely refuse to become a woman.'

'Come on, Moony, you're the closest of all of us to a bird—'

'—I beg your pardon, I—'

'—you even have your monthly cycles and everything—'

'I swear to Merlin, Sirius—'

'Fine, then—Wormtail, you're up—'

'No way.'

'Take one for the team, mate—'

'You take one for the team, if you're so keen—'

'Rock-paper-scissors, then.'

'Hm, always the diplomatic one, Moony—'

'Come on, then.'

'Rock...'

'Paper...'

'Scissors!'

'Hell.'

...

'You know what to do, right, Betty?'

'I swear to Merlin—'

'Sorry, I meant Moony.'

'I'm so sure.'

...

'How's it feel, Pete?'

'I do admit, I enjoy the height.'

'Ready to break hearts, Wormtail?'

'Hearts? I thought it was just the one.'

'Just go out there.'

...

'Excellent! Did you see the look on her face?'

'I daresay that went rather well.'

'What exactly are we supposed to do tomorrow, when Prongs cools down and is going to want to talk to Braithwaite? We can't exactly tell him we used Polyjuice.'

'Well, to be fair, he doesn't quite know what Polyjuice even is at the moment.'

'That's okay. We'll work it one day at a time.'

'Shatter one rule at a time.'

'Sounds about right.'

* * *

'Oi, Black. What in Merlin are you saying? You're not making any sense.'

Sirius blinked. 'Er—well, long story short, I had Remus change into Braithwaite and Peter into James. We had "Betty confess to our pathetic memory-lost mate and then we staged a very public break-up with the real Braithwaite and James' double at dinner. Shame you skipped dinner last night, Evans. It was hilarious, you should have seen the look on Braithwaite's face. Turned out she only scammed James because she was trying to make another bloke jealous. But that was pretty clever of us, eh?'

Lily laughed. 'Oh sure, clever. Never mind that you broke about a million rules.'

'Name one.'

'Breaking and entering. Theft. Misuse of—'

'Alright, alright. But you know, you shouldn't be worrying too much about the Polyjuice potion. I mean, it's not like we haven't done it before.'

Lily's jaw dropped open. 'What?'

'Never mind that,' said Sirius hastily. 'Want to know something else Braithwaite said while Pete-turned James was breaking her heart?'

Lily regarded him warily.

'She said,' continued Sirius. 'James should be grateful that she posed as his girlfriend because at the very least, it's accomplished one thing.'

'What's that?'

Sirius leant forward with a grin. 'At least for a little while, it's made you jealous.'

And with a wave, he departed, leaving Lily appearing scandalized in the common room.

* * *

The morning was so warm that Lily decided to take a walk on the grounds before class. She'd found Severus waiting for her outside the Great Hall after breakfast and the two decided to go out for a stroll to catch up.

'Where have you been, Sev?' said Lily immediately, pulling her old friend into a hug. 'I haven't seen you in ages. Mind explaining why you've been ditching Potions?'

Severus' pale cheeks were tinged pink when Lily released him. 'I—I haven't been feeling too well,' he said, looking away from her.

'Oh no, I'm sorry, are you feeling better now?'

'Yeah,' said Severus, still not meeting her eyes. 'A bit. Do you want to take a walk?'

Lily blinked. 'Yeah, okay. We've got a bit of time before class,' said Lily, offering a conversation starter. 'I did alright. Not as brilliantly as you, I'm sure, but then again, you always had a knack for it.'

'No, you were brilliant before we were partners,' said Severus quickly.

Lily laughed. 'Thanks for saying that, Sev. But I've seen all your Potions notes. You've already started making your own spells!'

'Trying to,' corrected Severus, the pink tinges reappearing.

Lily swung her arm around Severus, just like she used to when they were eleven and in the park by Spinner's End. 'You're making your own spells, Sev. And your own Potions, too! I wouldn't be surprised if you became a famous Potioneer one of these—what's the matter'

Severus had suddenly thrown Lily's arm off his shoulders, and had taken several strides ahead of her.

'I—'

Severus whipped round to face her again, but then looked away, stuffing his hands into his robes. 'Lily,' he said, and his voice had returned to its low and sombre timbre. 'I wanted to talk to you about something.'

Lily tucked a stray strand of hair behind her right ear as the morning wind blew against her face. 'What is it?'

Severus stared at the ground as he spoke. 'I was wondering whether I'd e able to partner up with Mulciber for Potions for the rest of the term.'

Lily stared at him, a tinge of hurt seeping through her expression. 'What do you mean—you don't want to be my partner anymore?'

'No!' said Severus instantly. 'It's just—Avery and Mulciber—they think it's—er—odd—that I'm always partnering up with a—a—'

'Lily crossed her arms over her chest. 'A Mudblood?' she supplied.

Severus winced. 'I—of course not,' he sputtered. 'A Gryffindor.'

Lily nodded slowly, not quite buying it. 'You know, Sev, my mates think it's odd that I always partner up with a Slytherin, too. I suppose—well, I don't know why that bothers you, I thought that we were—'

'We are friends!' cried Severus, his face flushed. 'It's just—they're my housemates and I have to put up with them every day. It's got nothing to do with you, I just have to—you understand, don't you?'

Lily uncrossed her arms and placed her suddenly cold hands into her robes. 'Yeah, I suppose,' she said reluctantly. 'I just feel like we're drifting apart slowly. I only see you in Potions these days—'

'We'll see each other tons!' insisted Severus. 'It's just for a while. Maybe—' he paused, searching for words. 'Maybe it's because Quidditch finals are coming up—it's probably House rivalry. It'll pass. And then we'll talk all the time.'

Lily nodded slowly. 'Are you all right, Sev? Is everything okay?'

'Everything's fine,' said Severus quickly.

'Okay,' said Lily with a slow and reluctant shrug. 'I'm just worried about you, is all. Avery and Mulciber—they scare me, Sev. And I'm just—'

'—They're fine, Lily,' snapped Severus. When he caught the startled expression on Lily's face, his tone softened. 'You don't have to worry about me. I'm fine.' He paused, giving her a smirk. 'At least I didn't lose my memory.'

Lily gave a wry grin. 'Heard about that, did you?'

'The castle has nothing better to talk about, does it?'

'I missed you, Severus.'

There was a pause before Severus responded. 'I missed you, too.'

* * *

Once Potter's memory had returned in full-force, Lily did not expect to see much of him or his mates. In fact, she rather hoped she wouldn't see much of them. It was almost as though she'd spoken to James Potter and Sirius Black so much within the past week, that her quota had been filled, and she could not tolerate his presence for at least another week.

But only six hours later, Lily was unceremoniously met with Potter's albeit invisible presence as she waited outside Professor McGonagall's office for her careers appointment.

'Boo.'

Lily jumped and whirled round, hand plunging into her robes to reach for her wand.

'Calm down, Evans, it's just me.'

Lily blinked, freezing on the spot. Her eyes darted from side to side, attempting to pinpoint the voice, but she could not see a thing.

'Wha –' she stuttered, looking round blindly.

There was a pause before James Potter appeared from what could only be described as nowhere.

'Potter!' He was grinning broadly.

'I scared you, didn't I?' he asked cheekily.

'Don't make me hex you, Potter,' said Lily, turning back round as she glanced at McGonagall's office door again. 'Don't you have lessons to catch up with? Or have you remembered everything?'

He chuckled. 'I think I'm caught up. Sirius has been prepping me all morning. Though, I do have one question. What's the deal with Betty Braithwaite?'

Lily turned round slowly. 'You remember her?'

'From Ravenclaw? Yeah, she's in our Charms class, isn't she?'

'Er—yeah. Sure.'

'I walked past her this morning. Gave me the dirtiest look I've ever seen. You'd think I stamped on her heart and humiliated her in front of the whole school.'

Lily hummed, hiding a grin. 'You could say that.'

'What?'

Lily cleared her throat. 'Nothing. What are you doing here, anyway?' she demanded. 'You should be in class.'

'I have my career's appointment in twenty minutes,' said Potter simply.

'No, I have mine.'

'Now, now, Evans... With a tone of voice like that, a bloke might start to get the impression that he's not wanted.'

'What gave it away?'

'Touchy, touchy. Funny, I think I liked you better when I'd lost my memory.'

'You don't even remember when you'd lost your memory.'

'No, but Sirius says you were a lot nicer.'

Lily glared at him. 'If your appointment is in twenty minutes, what are you doing here now?'

'I wanted to skive off Potions.'

'Figures.'

'Speaking of Potions,' said James, clearing his throat and stuffing his free hand into his robes. 'Do you have a partner for the lab coming up?'

'Yes, I'm working with—' she cut herself short, and cleared her throat. 'No, I suppose I don't.'

'No? What happened to Snivellus?'

Lily glared at him. 'Don't call him that.'

'Why not? Slimy little git deserves it. What's his problem this time? Is he planning to skive off the lab?'

'No,' said Lily instantly, defending her friend. She paused, lowering her voice. 'He's just got a different partner, is all.'

Potter gave an obnoxious guffaw. 'Looks like the little berk finally got the message. Maybe now he'll stay out of our side of the dungeon—'

'What did you just say?'

'—we can't have them mixing—'

'Shut your mouth, Potter!'

Potter turned to face her blankly. 'What?'

'Who said Gryffindors and Slytherins weren't supposed to mix? You and Severus, you're both the same—'

'Hey, that's out of line, we're nothing the same—'

'Yeah, you are. You've both got this stupid idea of House rivalry! Can't you see that You Know Who's on the rise? How are we ever supposed to fight him if we're so busy fighting with each other?'

'I'm not fighting—' retorted Potter. 'You're the one who's yelling—'

Lily made a sound of derision. 'You're infuriating, you know that? Why can't you just—no.' She paused, turning away and composing herself. 'No, you're not worth the trouble.'

'Not worth it, am I?' There was an edge of taunting in his voice.

'No. And I wouldn't be your Potions partner even if you were the last student in class. Now, if you'd just go away—'

'I have my appointment,' said Potter, sounding bored.

'Damn it, Potter—'

'Did you just curse at me?' His voice came out amused, and the atmosphere of the conversation shifted dramatically. 'I've never heard you curse before.'

Lily pulled out her wand. 'Oh, I can curse.'

Potter grinned, holding up both hands in surrender. 'Alright, I give. Listen, I came down here early for another reason. I knew you'd be waiting for your appointment before me, the list was in the common room, and I had to tell you something.'

'You're dropping out of Hogwarts?' said Lily scathingly.

Potter gave a laugh. 'Not quite, love.' He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. 'Well, it's probably nothing, but—well—I sort of told the entire Quidditch team that I saw Frank Longbottom snogging Alice Prewett.'

'You didn't.' Lily whirled round, appearing horrified.

Potter threw his hands up. 'It was an accident!'

'How could it be an accident?'

'I was confused, Evans! I just lost and regained my memory. My mind's a mess right now. Surely there has to be some leeway for forgiveness, here. Kalah and Titchy were fooling around during practice today, and Will said he missed the Prewett twins, except that they were also a bit stupid with the pranks. He said he wanted the talent and not the stupidity, so maybe Alice Prewett might be a good Quidditch player, since she's their cousin, but a lot more sensible. I considered that, but the time we caught them in the library was the first thing I could remember. It just came out. A revelation, if you will.'

Lily scoffed. 'And here I thought only teenage girls were gossip mongers.'

'What's that supposed to mean?' said Potter hotly.

'What were you doing gossiping during Quidditch practice, anyway? Aren't you supposed to be playing Quidditch?'

Potter grinned, fished into his robes and pulled out a struggling Snitch. 'We were,' he said. 'Look what I've nicked.'

Lily glared at him, disgusted. 'Put that away.'

Potter shrugged and returned it into his robes. Then he reached up and ran his hand into his hair. 'Calm down, Evans. I don't even think anyone thought much of it.'

'What are you talking about?'

'Dorcas was talking about Leah Summers and Davy Gudgeon at the same time. All I'd said when Will mentioned Alice Prewett was, 'Wasn't she snogging Frank Longbottom in the library?' They could have easily assumed I was talking about Leah Summers.'

'What?'

'Yeah, Dorcas even asked me, 'You mean Summers?' But by then, I'd realized what I let slip. Will called the next play, and I didn't get a chance to answer her. There wasn't really any time to gossip, Evans.' Potter said the next bit rather condescendingly. 'So you can stop biting my head off. I don't know why you have to be so temperamental.' He propped his arms above his head casually and closed his eyes, pacing leisurely through the corridor.

Lily didn't respond for a moment. Then, 'What did you say?' Her voice was dangerously low.

'You heard me.'

'How dare you, I'm not –!'

'There you go again with the yelling,' said James, in a singsong voice. He began to hum, and infuriated, Lily held her wand up higher.

'Don't make me hex you, Potter—!'

'Miss Evans! What's going on here?'

Lily jumped. Potter stopped humming instantly and turned to find Professor McGonagall standing at the doorway to her office.

'Professor –' Lily's eyes were wide.

McGonagall glanced between Lily and Potter with a disapproving look on her face. 'You do realize that classes are still in progress?'

'Of course, Professor,' said Lily nervously. 'I'm sorry—'

'Sorry, Professor,' said Potter immediately. 'It was my fault. We were just having a—er—' He glanced at Lily, then back to Professor McGonagall. '–a spirited debate.'

'Perhaps next time this debate can happen in the confines of your common room.'

Potter gave her a salute. 'Yes, Ma'am.'

Professor McGonagall regarded him critically before turning back to Lily. 'Miss Evans, I trust we have a careers appointment?'

'Yes, Professor.'

'Into my office, then.'

The question of her temperament was still lingering in Lily's mind as she followed Professor McGonagall into her office and it served to explain the rather scathing glare she shot James Potter before she disappeared through the door.


	11. Lily and Prongs

_A/N – I've been working on this story for a long time. A _really_ long time. And to be honest, I don't see an end for it in the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, I just wanted to thank all you readers for the support these past five years. Thank you for constantly reminding me that this story is something worthwhile. I hope I'll be able to finish it for you one day. _

_**Disclaimer: **__This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J. K. Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended._

* * *

"_**A faithful friend is a strong defense; a**__**nd he that hath found him hath found a treasure."**_

_**~ Louisa May Alcott**_

* * *

The following few days were those filled with stress, chaos and pain for the fifth years of Hogwarts – except for James and Sirius. The two, who had never taken to studying, were spending hours out of the castle every day, in an attempt to get away from Hogwarts and its exam-obsessed inhabitants.

Remus was particularly hard to be around. James and Sirius both knew he was generally tense around the exam season, but the upcoming O.W.L.s seemed to have forged a tenser, more stressed out Remus Lupin. Tired of being victims to his constant snapping and demands to test him, James and Sirius left him alone with Peter, using Quidditch as their excuse of escape.

Though he did not have Quidditch practice nearly as many times as Remus believed, James spent a lot of his time on the Quidditch pitch, flying round with Sirius, who wasn't an expert at the sport, but a fair flyer all the same.

When they weren't occupying their time down at the Quidditch Pitch, James and Sirius were taking refuge at Hagrid's hut. A week before the O.W.L.s began, however, Hagrid had closed his door to his two favourite troublemakers, as he did every year close to exam time. Still, every year, James and Sirius always managed to give him the same, hurt look on their faces, which was occasionally followed by Hagrid saying exasperatedly, 'Don' give me tha' look, boys, it's fer yer own good.'

* * *

The next Monday marked the start of the O. for the fifth year students of Hogwarts. The fifth years had their Herbology exams on Wednesday (Peter was particularly careful with the Mandrakes after his unsuccessful run-in with them in his second year; and then, on Tuesday, Charms. Reviewing for the Charms exams had paid off for Lily, especially when the balding examiner, Professor Tofty, asked her about the Cheering Charm.

By Thursday, Lily only had three exams left: Defense Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration and Arithmancy. She, Kalah and Alice were found studying for their Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L that afternoon in the Common Room.

'Animagus,' said Kalah suddenly.

'A wizard who can morph him or herself into an animal. It takes years of strenuous practice to master and is so dangerous that you have to be registered with the Ministry to become one,' recited Lily. 'That's it, isn't it?'

'Don't forget that you have to have noticeable markings,' said Kalah, checking her notes. 'Right… What does a Patronus fight against?'

'Dementors.'

'Brilliant.'

The fifth years marched into the Great Hall slowly an hour later, a familiar feeling of dread occupying the air around them.

Lily caught sight of Severus off to the edge of the hall. She offered a wave, but dropped her hand when she realized that he hadn't noticed.

Moments later, when Flitwick passed out the exams, Lily was pleased to read the first question:

_Name the side effects of the Cheering Charm._

She picked up her quill and poised it to write.

* * *

An hour later, in the same room, James Potter yawned hugely and rumpled his hair. Apart from that trick question on pixies, the exam was fairly easy and already out of his mind. He gave a short glance toward Professor Flitwick, turned in his seat and grinned at Sirius.

Sirius was lounging in his chair at his ease, tilting it back on two legs. James glanced round the room, searching for Remus. A moment later, he caught sight of him sitting two seats along from Violet Summers, who seemed to be stealing glances at Sirius. Remus was rereading his answers on his parchment, scratching his chin with the end of his quill and frowning slightly. Peter was near the front row, chewing his fingernails anxiously. James snorted as he saw him glance hopefully at Padman Patil's paper.

James pulled out the piece of scrap parchment on his desk underneath his exam. He began to absent-mindedly sketch a Snitch.

The Golden Snitch always seemed to intrigue James more than the other balls used in Quidditch, despite the fact that he was a Chaser. The Snitch appeared to stand out, with its tiny, gold and floaty appearance. In a glance, despite the fact that he was always working with the Quaffle, he could always spot the Snitching flying around him.

Perhaps it was because a Snitch was currently fluttering in James' pocket that he had begun to draw it. Or perhaps it was because James could clearly see the back of Lily Evans' head from his seat.

She was sitting in the second row from the front, three seats from the right and was chewing the end of her quill as James knew she did whenever she was deep in thought.

He wasn't even aware that he was tracing her initials into the middle of his drawing until he'd finished.

'_Quills down, please!' squeaked Professor Flitwick. 'That means you too, Stebbins! Please remain seated while I collect your parchment! Accio!'_

_Over a hundred rolls of parchment zoomed into the air and into Professor Flitwick's outstretched arms, knocking him backwards off his feet. _

James chuckled. A couple of students at the front desks got up to help Professor Flitwick to his feet. James watched as Lily crouched down, picked up several of the scrolls that had fallen to the ground and held them out to Flitwick.

'_Thank you... Thank you,' panted Professor Flitwick. 'Very well, everybody, you're free to go!'_

James hastily crossed out the 'L.E.' on his parchment, deciding he'd have to get rid of the parchment before Sirius got to it. Stuffing his quill and exam paper into his bag, James jumped to his feet, and waited for his mates to join him.

(Rowling, Order of the Phoenix, p. 483)

* * *

Towards the front, a small group of girls exited the hall.

'So?' asked Lily, grinning at Mary MacDonald. 'How'd you do?'

Mary shrugged, a reluctant smile on her face. 'Alright, I suppose... Did you get question seventeen?'

Kalah rolled her eyes. 'Mary, nobody remembers the question numbers.'

Mary waved her hand dismissively. 'The one about the uses of pixie dust. It's only momentary levitation, right?'

Lily made a face. 'Afraid not, Mary. Momentary levitation is only caused by ground pixie hair. There's no such thing as pixie dust.'

Mary groaned. 'Brilliant. That's what I get for watching Peter Pan during the Easter hols.'

Lily gave a laugh, but Alice furrowed her eyebrows. 'Who?'

Mary waved her hand dismissively. 'Never mind,' she said.

Alice gave a shrug and looked of into the distance. 'Well,' she said suddenly. 'I'm off to start studying for Transfiguration.'

'But that's not until tomorrow,' said Marlene.

Alice cleared her throat. 'Still, I've got loads to review. I'll catch up with you all later.'

Lily followed her gaze, and then noticed Frank Longbottom waiting by the Entrance Hall. She hid a smirk. Studying, indeed.

Kalah stretched 'Yeah, I think I'll join you,' she said. 'If I don't start studying, I'm going to fail for sure.'

Alice blinked. 'Er—are you sure, Kalah?' she asked.

Lily, suddenly sympathetic to Alice's cause, jumped in to help. 'Yeah, sure you don't want to relax a bit? You just wrote an O.W.L., for Merlin's sake!'

Kalah shook her head. 'Nah, I think I should really get started. You too, Lily—you should join us, too.'

'I don't think Lily needs to study,' said Alice quickly. 'She's rather brilliant already.'

'Still,' said Kalah. 'A little reviewing doesn't hurt anybody.'

Lily felt rather caught in an uncomfortable situation. 'Not today,' she replied. 'I'm exhausted. I'm not touching another book today.' When she glanced over at Alice, she noticed that her mate appeared relieved.

'Are you sure?'

'Absolutely. Relax for a bit, Kalah. Lily turned to Alice to be fair. 'You too, Alice.'

'Oh no, Lily,' said Alice immediately. 'I really should get to work. You two have fun.'

Kalah stared at her for a moment before giving a jerky shrug. 'Fine,' she said.

Lily grinned at her. 'Come on,' she said, grabbing Kalah's elbow. 'Let's go down to the lake. It's warm out.'

Behind them, another crowd of students were leaving the castle.

James rumpled his hair as he stretched and yawned next to his mates.

'_Did you like question ten, Moony?' asked Sirius as they emerged into the Entrance Hall._

'_Loved it,' said Remus briskly. 'Give five signs that identify the werewolf. Excellent question.'_

'_D'you think you managed to get all the signs?' said James in tones of mock concern._

'_Think I did,' said Remus seriously, as they joined the crowd thronging around the front doors eager to get out into the sunlit grounds. 'One: he's sitting on my chair. Two: he's wearing my clothes. Three: his names' Remus Lupin.'_

_Wormtail was the only one who didn't laugh._

'_I got the snout shape, the pupils of the eyes and the tufted tail,' he said anxiously, 'but I couldn't think what else –'_

'_How thick are you, Wormtail?' said James impatiently. 'You run round with a werewolf once a month –'_

'_Keep your voice down,' implored Remus._

The four strode off down the lawn towards the lake.

'_Well, I thought that paper was a piece of cake,' said Sirius. 'I'll be surprised if I don't get 'Outstanding' on it at least.'_

'_Me too,' said James. He put his hand in his pocket and took out a struggling Golden Snitch._

'_Where'd you get that?'_

'_Nicked it,' said James casually. He started playing with the Snitch, allowing it to fly as much as a foot away before seizing it again. Peter was watching in awe. The four stopped in the shade of a beech tree on the edge of the lake and threw themselves down on the grass._

_The sunlight was dazzling on the smooth surface of the lake, on the bank of which Lily and her friends were sitting, with their shoes and socks off, cooling their feet in the water. _

(Rowling, Order of the Phoenix, p. 484 – 485)

* * *

Lily glanced around the grounds attempting to catch sight of Severus. She had not seen him in a while, not since he was supposed to be her Potions partner. She wondered momentarily whether he found better company amongst his Slytherin mates—perhaps he no longer wanted to be her friend…

'Oi, you lot,' said Greta Catchlove, approaching with Daisy Dodderidge and Stacey McKinnon. They sat down at the water's edge and proceeded and take off their shoes. 'Mind if we join you?'

Lily shifted to make room. 'No problem,' she said. She leant back, closed her eyes and let her mind wander, trying not to think about Severus abandoning her.

* * *

_Remus had pulled out a book and was reading. Sirius stared around at the students milling over the grass, looking haughty and bored. James was still playing with the Snitch, letting it zoom further and further away, almost escaping but always grabbed it at the last second. Peter was watching him with his mouth open. Every time James made particularly difficult catch, Peter gasped and applauded. _

James looked over at the water's edge where Lily was lying down on the grass with her arms propped under her head, her legs stretched out and slightly crossed and her eyes closed. He rumpled his hair absent-mindedly and let the Snitch get away for longer than he had intended in his distraction. He jumped up and made a fine catch, and Peter let out a cheer.

'_Put that away, will you,' said Sirius finally, 'before Wormtail wets himself with excitement.'_

_Wormtail turned slightly pink, but James grinned._

'_If it bothers you,' he said, stuffing the Snitch back in his pocket._

'_I'm bored,' said Sirius. 'Wish it was full moon.'_

'_You might,' said Remus darkly, from behind his book. 'We've still got Transfiguration, if you're bored, you could test me. Here...' And he held out his book._

_But Sirius snorted. 'I don't need to look at that rubbish, I know it all.'_

'_This'll liven you up, Padfoot,' said James quietly. 'Look who it is...'_

_Sirius' head turned. He became very still, like a dog that has scented a rabbit._

'_Excellent,' he said softly. 'Snivellus.'_

Snape, who was settled on the grass in the dense shadow of a clump of bushes nearby was on his feet, and was stowing the DADA O.W.L. paper in his bag.

_As he left the shadows of the bushes and set off across the grass, Sirius and James stood up. Remus and Peter remained sitting: Remus was still staring down at his book, though his eyes were not moving and a faint frown line had appeared between his eyebrows; Peter was looking from Sirius and James to Snape with the same look of avid anticipation on his face he had whenever James hexed students in the halls when they mouthed off to him._

James sat up, his wand hand twitching with anticipation.

_All right, Snivellus?' he said loudly._

_Snape reacted so fast it was as though he had been expecting an attack: dropping his bag, he plunged his hand inside his robes and his wand was halfway into the air when James shouted, 'Expelliarmus!'_

_Snape's wand flew twelve feet into the air and fell with a little thud in the grass behind him. Sirius let out a bark of laughter._

'_Impedimenta!' he said, pointing his wand at Snape, who was knocked off his feet halfway through a dive towards his own fallen wand._

_Students all around had turned to watch. Some of them had got to their feet and were edging nearer. Some looked apprehensive, others entertained._

James looked down at Snape coldly, remembering what had happened when Snape had tried to come to the Shrieking Shack, when Snape had almost revealed Remus' secret to the school.

_Snape lay panting on the ground. James and Sirius advanced on him, wands raised, James glancing over his shoulder at the girls at the water's edge as he went. Peter was on his feet now, watching hungrily, edging round Remus to get a clearer view. _

(Rowling, Order of the Phoenix, p. 485-486)

* * *

Lily opened her eyes slowly to the sound of loud, excited talking.

'What's going on?' she asked, sitting up and turning to Kalah, who was on her feet, stretching her neck to gauge what was happening.

'I don't know,' said Kalah, a look of concern on her face. 'But there's a crowd gathering over there.'

From the distance, Lily saw Mary rushing over to them. 'It's Potter and Black,' she panted when she got close. 'They're attacking Snape.'

'What?' Lily whipped her head around to face the scene. The crowd was thick now. Lily could not see what was in the middle.

'Yeah,' said Mary. 'They've got him on the Impediment Curse.'

Lily immediately reached for her shoes and socks. 'How dare they,' she said angrily, pulling on her socks.

'Lily, what are you going to do?' asked Greta.

'What do you _think_ I'm going to do?' replied Lily, shaking with fury as she put on her shoes and got to her feet. 'I'm going to help my friend.'

* * *

'_How'd the exam go, Snivelly?' said James._

'_I was watching him, his nose was touching the parchment,' said Sirius viciously. 'There'll be great grease marks all over it; they won't be able to read a word.'_

_Several people watching laughed; Peter sniggered shrilly. Snape was trying to get up, but the jinx was still operating on him; he was struggling, as though bound by invisible ropes._

'_You – wait,' he panted, staring up at James with an expression of purest loathing, 'You – wait!'_

'_Wait for what?' said Sirius coolly. 'What're you going to do, Snivelly, wipe your nose on us?'_

_Snape let out a stream of mixed swear words and hexes, but with his wand ten feet away, nothing happened._

'_Wash out your mouth,' said James coldly. 'Scourgify!'_

_Pink soap bubbles streamed from Snape's mouth at once; the froth was covering his lips, making him gag, choking him –_

'_Leave him ALONE!'_

_James and Sirius looked round. James' free hand immediately jumped to his hair._

The crowd seemed to open up to reveal Lily.

'_All right, Evans?' said James, and the tone of his voice had changed into the pleasant, deep and mature voice he used whenever he spoke to Lily._

'_Leave him alone,' Lily repeated. She was looking at James with every sign of great dislike. 'What's he done to you?'_

'_Well,' said James, appearing to deliberate the point, 'it's more the fact that he exists, if you know what I mean...'_

_Many of the surrounding students laughed, Sirius and Peter included, but Remus, still apparently intent on his book, didn't, and nor did Lily._

'_You think you're funny,' she said coldly. 'But you're just an arrogant, bullying toerag, Potter. Leave him alone.'_

'_I will if you go out with me, Evans,' said James quickly, feeling a rush of adrenaline. 'Go on... go out with me and I'll never lay a wand on old Snivelly again.'_

Lily narrowed her eyes. If Potter thought this was supposed to impress her, he had another thing coming.

_Behind him, the Impediment Jinx was wearing off. Snape was beginning to inch towards his fallen wand, spitting out soapsuds as he crawled._

'_I wouldn't go out with you if it was a choice between you and the giant squid,' said Lily._

'_Bad luck, Prongs,' said Sirius briskly, and turned back to Snape. 'Oy!'_

_But too late; Snape had directed his wand straight at James; there was a flash of light and a gash appeared on the side of James' face, spattering his robes with blood. Lily jumped, looking startled. James whirled about: a second flash of light later, Snape was hanging upside-down in the air, his robes falling over his head to reveal skinny, pallid legs and a pair of graying underpants._

_Many people in the small crowd cheered; Sirius, James and Peter roared with laughter. _

Lily's mouth twitched momentarily at the sight, but her expression became furious again an instant later.

'Let him down,' she said sternly.

'_Certainly,' said James and he jerked his wand upwards; Snape fell into a crumpled heap on the ground. Disentangling himself from his robes he got quickly to his feet, wand up, but Sirius said, 'Lococomotor mortis!' and Snape keeled over again at once, rigid as a board._

'_LEAVE HIM ALONE!' Lily shouted. She had her own wand out now. James and Sirius eyed it warily._

'_Ah, Evans, don't make me hex you,' said James earnestly._ The voice at the back of his head laughed at his lie.

Lily gripped her wand tightly, prepared.

'_Take the curse off him, then!'_

_James sighed deeply, then turned to Snape and muttered the counter-curse._

'_There you go,' he said, as Snape struggled to his feet. 'You're lucky Evans was here, Snivellus –'_

'_I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!' shouted Snape._

His words were a blow to her stomach.

_Lily blinked._

'_Fine,' she said coolly. 'I won't bother in the future. And I'd wash your pants if I were you, Snivellus.'_

'_Apologise to Evans!' James roared at Snape, his wand pointed threateningly at him._

Suddenly, Lily too, let go of all her frustrations.

'_I don't want you to make him apologise,' she shouted, rounding on James. 'You're as bad as he is!'_

'_What?' yelped James. 'I'd NEVER call you a – you-know-what!'_

Lily clenched her fists._ 'Messing up your hair because you think it looks cool to look like you've just got off your broomstick, showing off with that stupid Snitch, walking down corridors and hexing anyone who annoys you just because you can – I'm surprised your broomstick can get off the ground with that fat head on it. You make me SICK.'_

Lily couldn't take it anymore. She needed to get away from them – both Potter and Snape. _She turned on her heel and hurried away._

'_Evans!' James shouted after her. 'Hey, EVANS!'_

_But she didn't look back._

_What is it with her?' said James, trying and failing to look as though this was a throwaway question of no real importance to him._

'_Reading between the lines, I'd say she thinks you're a bit conceited, mate,' said Sirius._

Damn it.

'_Right,' said James, who looked furious now, 'Right –'_

_There was another flash of light, and Snape was once again hanging upside-down in the air._

'_Who wants to see me take off Snivelly's pants?'_

The crowd, which had quieted down after Lily's appearance, started to cheer again.

'James,' said Remus quietly. James and Sirius turned to look over at their friend. He had closed his book and had gotten to his feet. 'We've got our Transfiguration exam tomorrow. Come on, let's go.'

This was how Remus usually intervened. He wouldn't tell them to stop, but he would always come up with an excuse so they wouldn't be able to do more damage.

James knew this was a sign that he'd gone too far. He looked over to Sirius, who shrugged noncommittally. Peter was looking disappointed.

James sighed. 'Alright, alright,' said James. He walked over to the beech tree, picked up his bag and followed Remus into the castle.

'Isn't someone going to let him down?' asked Ludo Bagman, a second year.

(Rowling, Order of the Phoenix, p. 485-486)

* * *

'Lily? Are you there?'

The door clicked open and Kalah and Alice tentatively walked into their dormitory. Lily was sitting on her bed, fingering a string bracelet.

Kalah and Alice exchanged glances.

Lily held up the bracelet. It was the one given to her by Snape on her eleventh birthday. The bracelet looked exactly as it had on that day, with different colours of rope twisted in the same messy manner.

'Do you remember this?'

Kalah and Alice nodded.

'He—er—he gave it to me,' said Lily. She paused. 'Snape, I mean.'

There was silence for a few moments.

'He called me a Mudblood,' said Lily. She looked straight ahead with a transfixed gaze, as though picturing the scene.

Alice crouched down so she was level with Lily's face.

'I know,' she said. 'And it was wrong.'

'You lot were right,' said Lily, swiping a forearm over her eyes. 'I should never have been friends with him. He's a right foul git.'

Kalah was crouching down too now. 'I'm sorry.'

A reluctant grin tugged on the ends of Lily's mouth. 'No—all those times I got annoyed at you two when you said Snape was trouble,' she said, shaking her head. 'I'm sorry...'

There was more silence. Then Lily got to her feet.

'It's just... I knew most of his friends were Slytherins. I just didn't know he'd be like them.'

'Lily,' said Alice, 'You-Know-Who's getting a lot more powerful than you think. A lot of the Slytherins' parents are probably Death Eaters. It's no excuse, but I'd bet he'd do anything to become one them.'

'Merlin, I'm such an idiot,' said Lily, sinking her head into her hands.

* * *

'Padfoot, I messed up,' said James, massaging his temples.

'Yeah,' agreed Sirius. He and James were getting ready for bed.

'Oi, you're not supposed to agree, you know.'

'There's no getting around it, mate. Evans pretty much hates your guts right now.'

'But I didn't do anything!'

Sirius shrugged. 'Nothing I'd argue with. But look at it in Evans' point of view.'

'What do you mean?'

'I dunno... I guess; the way Evans sees it, you're the one who made her best friend call her a – you-know-what.'

'I didn't make that git say anything!'

'OK, OK,' said Sirius. 'It's a theory, alright? Don't bite my head off.'

* * *

'Lily?'

Mary had stuck her head into her dormitory. Lily, dressed in her nightgown for bed, looked up from her Transfiguration textbook.

'Yeah, Mary?'

Mary looked nervous. 'It's Snape. He's outside the common room.'

Lily cringed. 'Again?'

Mary nodded. 'He's – er – he's threatening to sleep there if you don't go out there.'

Lily debated whether she should. Snape had been waiting outside the common room since that evening, hoping to talk to Lily. At first, Kalah and Alice had convinced her not to go out there – she didn't need to hear his excuses.

But now, by threatening to sleep out there, Snape would be disturbing the whole castle – not to mention that a part of Lily still didn't want him to get in trouble.

'Fine,' she said. 'I'll be right back.' Lily got to her feet and walked out of her dormitory determinedly, remembering that she had no intention of forgiving her oldest friend this time.

* * *

Snape's whole face lit up when he saw Lily appear.

'_I'm sorry,' he said._

'_I'm not interested.'_

'_I'm sorry!'_

'_Save your breath.'_

_Lily stood with her arms folded in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady, at the entrance to Gryffindor Tower._

'_I only came out here because Mary told me you were threatening to sleep here.'_

'_I was. I would have done. I never meant to call you Mudblood. It just –'_

'_Slipped out?' There was no pity in Lily's voice. 'It's too late. I've made excuses for you for years. None of my friends can understand why I even talk to you. You and your precious little Death Eater friends –'_ Snape hung his head, silent. '– Y_ou see, you don't even deny it! You don't even deny that's what you're all aiming to be! You can't wait to join You-Know-Who, can you?'_

_He opened his mouth, but closed it without speaking._

'_I can't pretend anymore. You've chosen your way, I've chosen mine.'_

'_No – listen, I didn't mean –'_

'– _to call me Mudblood? But you call everyone of my birth Mudblood, Severus. Why should I be any different?'_

_He struggled on the verge of speech, but with a contemptuous look, she turned and climbed back through the portrait hole..._

(Rowling, Deathly Hallows, p. 356)

* * *

Snape didn't know that Lily was on the verge of tears – she had lost her oldest friend – she had been betrayed and had lost someone dear to her. She had lost a piece of her childhood, and she was certain she would never go back to the park near her home again, where she had once played joyfully with her best friend, Severus Snape.

Lily didn't know that Snape had lost the love of his life – he had lost the chance to see her smile, to laugh with her, to share her happy and sad experiences. He had lost the opportunity to be her best friend. All in all, on that day, as Snape retired to his empty dormitory alone, as he sat on his bed in the dark and pointed his wand at the ceiling, shooting down flies, he realised that he had ultimately lost Lily Evans. Forever.

* * *

It was funny, really, that once one part of Lily's life, Severus Snape, had changed, many others had begun to change in reaction. She was to return home for the summer to face her sister, Petunia, a task that seemed more daunting than ever without the occasional company of Severus Snape. Lily imagined the look on Petunia's face if she told her that she and Snape were no longer mates—it caused her stomach to churn unpleasantly.

Lily continued to see Snape in the Great Hall during meals, giving her hopeful glances which she did her best to ignore. He attempted to talk to her in the halls a few times, but Kalah and Alice always managed to steer her away.

It was not even as though lily could look to final examinations in order to keep her mind off things; now that exams had finished, she found she had too much time to wallow in her thoughts. In fact, as the days went by, Lily found her mind preoccupied with a rather curious matter. Perhaps it was because she missed her former best mate; perhaps it was because of her contempt at how they were made to end their friendship; but on nights when she stayed awake completing homework, Lily started to really think about what Snape had implied when he mentioned that Remus left the castle on full moon nights.

Of course, Lily had her own suspicions and a part of her believed Snape whenever he hinted at her, even though she didn't particularly want to be aware of it. She'd also noticed that Remus always seemed to ask her to switch Prefect patrols with her whenever his shift came up on a full moon night. Still, that didn't answer why Snape believed that Remus' mates also left their dormitory on these nights, especially if Snape was right about his theory.

Lily's thoughts became obsessive over the next few days. She contemplated confronting Remus regarding the manner, but decided against it almost immediately—surely the subject would be a sore one for him and Lily had no intention of making her fellow Prefect feel uncomfortable. She thought about asking Black or Pettigrew—they owed her after what happened when Potter lost his memory—but then, she knew they'd deny everything; if anything, they were loyal mates.

And confronting Potter was out of the question. Lily made every attempt to ignore him after her outburst after the DADA O.W.L.s. Surprisingly enough, though, Potter made no attempt to pester her about it. Perhaps he finally understand that the world did not revolve around him, and that she could not nor would not tolerate his company—in any case, he made no attempts to bother her since the incident at the O.W.L.s, and Lily was quite satisfied about that.

In fact, Potter's determination not to engage her in conversation worked rather well for Lily, because it meant that his conversations with his mates were no longer those she was certain he was staging. The deliberately loud voices and exaggerated conversations about Quidditch, which she was positive was for the benefit of the Gryffindor girls in the common room, had been replaced with huddled, whispered conversation with his mates, and they were speaking in such hushed tones that Lily was certain they weren't discussing Gryffindor's last match with Ravenclaw in Charms.

Lily made a point to sit behind Potter and Black in Potions. Since she'd decided that she and Snape were no longer mates, she'd begun to share cauldron with Alice and Kalah. Alice had subsequently suggested that she'd work with Frank Longbottom to reduce the crowd, a suggestion she made rather timidly and self-sacrificingly. Lily had agreed out of pity—Alice was not prepared to tell her about Frank yet, but her insistence to spend every waking moment with him for 'innocent' reasons was endearing. When Alice had left to join Frank at his table, Lily could have sworn that she saw Kalah smirk; but then Snape had walked in and was staring at her, so Lily had no time to pose any questions. Snape gazed a hole in Lily's head before making a jerky turn and stalking off to the other side of the dungeon, leaving Lily to huddle over her cauldron and avoid his gaze.

Through Lily had to strain her ears to eavesdrop on Potter and Black's conversation throughout the class period, and still, she heard nothing more than wisps of voices, none of which she could make sense.

'Lily, what's next?'

Lily's eyes snapped up to meet Kalah's. She was waiting at the cauldron they were sharing, with a ladle in her hand.

'Er—' Lily checked her textbook. 'Three turns clockwise, followed by one counter-clockwise turn for seven repetitions,' she said quickly. Kalah proceeded to stir the mixture after giving Lily the lift of a quizzical brow at her uncharacteristic distraction during Potions class.

Lily waited until Kalah was engrossed in the counting of her stirring before she leant casually in Potter and Black's direction. From the corner of her eye, she saw Potter's head twitch involuntarily at the act, and she trained her eyes on her textbook busily.

'Only one day left,' Sirius Black was saying in an excited murmur.

Potter responded with a mumble Lily could not hear. Frustrated, she flipped the page on her textbook and stood.

'I'll get the snakeweed, shall I?' she said with a bright smile. Kalah nodded noncommittally. Lily ran her finger over the word 'snakeweed' written in the textbook with unnecessary dramatics before walking to the ingredients cabinets at the other side of the room, walking past Potter and Black's cauldron slowly in the hopes of catching a few of their exchanged words as she did so.

'… for Moony, you know, call it a gift for our last one for the year…'

Lily would have stopped walking altogether to listen to their conversation if it weren't for the fact that Potter had lifted his head as she walked by. Lily found her way to the cabinets faster than expected. She pulled out 4 slivers of snakeweed immediately and backtracked to her seat.

'… excellent—way to make our last trip memorable, Padfoot,' Potter was saying.

Lily reached her seat and could no longer hear the murmured conversation next to her, but already she was certain of one thing.

Potter and his mates were taking a trip tomorrow. And it was going to be a full moon night.

* * *

Lily Evans was in the common room when James came downstairs that night to check whether the coast was clear.

He hesitated upon seeing her—normally, he was quick to engage in conversation, but the events of last week were still fresh in his mind. He cleared his throat awkwardly, opened his mouth to speak, and then decided against it at the last moment. He pivoted his feet to move towards the portrait.

'Going somewhere, Potter?' asked Evans coldly. When James glanced back at her, he noticed that her eyes hadn't even left her parchment as she scribbled.

'Just the kitchens,' he said with an easy grin. 'Want anything?'

Evans made no response to his question, but merely raised her eyebrows as she continued to write. 'Curfew's in five minutes,' she said with a curt voice, ignoring his question entirely.

James shoved his hands into his pockets, a bit put off. 'I'll keep that in mind. Thanks, Mum,' he mumbled.

The last thing he saw before he slipped out of the common room was the scowl on Lily Evans' face.

* * *

'She's down there,' said James, when he returned to his dormitory ten minutes later. Frank, always the early sleeper, was already busy setting his pyjamas on his bed as James strolled up to Sirius and Peter, falling onto Peter's bed with a decided jump.

'Who?' said Peter, his eyes round. 'McGonagall?'

James scoffed. 'No,' he said with a dismissive wave. 'She's probably still with Moony, making sure he's _settling in_.' James said the last bit using air quotes and a dramatic tone of voice. 'I meant Evans.'

Sirius made a look of disgust. 'What's she doing down there anyway? O.W.L.s are finished. We don't even have any assignments left to hand in.'

'I think she's writing home.'

'What for? She's going to be there in a couple of days!'

James shrugged.

'We've got the Cloak,' suggested Peter. 'Though, I'm not even sure all of us fit under there anymore.'

'Yeah,' agreed James. 'Remember when we used it to get into Honeydukes? The day we found the cellar door? Or even last month when Remus nearly got his ear sliced off when we tried to score some Firewhiskey from those old codgers at the Hog's Head?'

Sirius gave a bark of laughter. 'How could I forget? Moony thought it would be easier if he hid behind the cloak while I talked to them because I was more passable for seventeen. Then he had to go and show some ankle and scare the living shit out of them!'

Peter began to laugh too, wiping the mirth from his eyes. 'The one with the eye patch whipped out his wand and slashed at the air randomly. Oi, Padfoot, you should have seen the look on Moony's face—he didn't see it coming!'

'Yeah, and even though it healed easy enough, he's still got the scar,' added James.

Sirius shook his head reminiscently. 'That was brilliant.'

'Yeah, well,' said James, glancing in Frank's direction. 'I guess we have no choice but to use the cloak anyway. What else do we have?'

* * *

Lily could not believe how easy it was to nick Peter Pettigrew's wand. Sure, nearly every professor made a point of criticizing his carelessness since first year—McGonagall especially seemed to come down hard on him in Transfiguration—but Lily did not think Pettigrew was as forgetful as he was. This particular trait served especially useful when he set down his wand at the beginning of their Potions class the next day, and forgot to take it with him on the way to lunch before doubling back to pick it up ten minutes later.

Lily had been in the dungeon after class that day, clearing out her potion and inquiring after Professor Slughorn's health when she saw Pettigrew's discarded wand. She waited until Professor Slughorn slipped into his office before moving towards the wand and placing a Tracing charm upon it—after all, Potter had an Invisibility Cloak. How else would she be able to follow him and his mates?

It was only because of this, that when the portrait door opened suddenly as she wrote her letter and no one arrived nor left, Lily inwardly smirked. She pulled out her wand, muttered an incantation and watched as the tip of her wand shone brightly immediately and began to dim with every step Pettigrew took away from her.

Potter was on the move.

* * *

James wasn't certain what made him want to check. Perhaps it was because Evans had been in the common room, and hadn't so much as flinched when the Portrait door had opened surreptitiously. Or perhaps it was because he'd been particularly cautious ever since Snape had managed to follow them into the Shrieking Shack. But a prickly sensation continued to taunt him as he and his mates walked down the corridor.

Peter's wand had been slow all day. Lily Evans was writing a letter in the common room when she would see her family in a few days' time. She'd been particularly keen on asking him where he was headed so close to curfew.

James stopped in his tracks.

'Oi, Wormtail,' he croaked. 'Let me see your wand.'

* * *

As she stepped down the corridor, her wand held high in front of her, Lily felt very much like she were seeking some sort of treasure, and her wand was her map. She took anxious steps, hesitant to make much noise in case Filch should come running. She kept her eyes trained on her wand, turning into one corridor, walking past another, reaching a fork in the hallway, and then—

Nothing.

Lily froze. The glowing at the end of her wand had dissipated. Lily looked around her, seeking any signs of movement. She glanced back down at her wand. Nothing.

Lily began to run forward, taking the first path of the three that were available. It was implausible—how could Pettigrew have disappeared? It was impossible to Disapparate within the castle, and anyway, they were _right there_, her wand proved it—

Befuddled, Lily hurried forward, whipping her head to scrutinize as many paths as possible, only to be met with empty corridors in her search for any trace of Potter and his mates.

* * *

James held still as Lily Evans hurried past him, her auburn hair flying behind her and leaving behind the scent of lavender and vanilla.

When she'd disappeared around a corner, Sirius gave a low whistle. 'Bloody hell,' he muttered.

'How'd you know she was tracking us?' asked Peter, looking aghast.

James nodded towards his wand. 'Something was off. And magic always leaves traces.'

Sirius clapped him on back hard, the momentary panic having subsided, and the comedy of it all finally bubbling to the surface. 'Good thinking, mate. That was a close one.' He chuckled. 'Your bird Evans… sneaky little vixen, isn't she?'

James' heart was thumping rapidly in his chest. He hadn't expected Evans to follow him out of the common room after hours, let alone put a Tracing charm on them, the Prefect that she was.

A part of James was relieved to have discovered her plan before it succeeded—after all, where they were headed was no place for a human, at least not one that wasn't an Animagus. And Evans was a Prefect; James couldn't imagine the trouble she could have gotten them into for sneaking out of the castle at that hour.

Still, another part of him, a greater part, had never been more attracted to Lily Evans…

* * *

Remus was grinning when James, Sirius and Peter finally pushed open the trap door into the Shrieking Shack. He swung his arms back and forth as he wanted for them to scramble out and dust themselves off.

'Last one for the year,' he said.

Sirius returned the grin. 'And we're going to make it a special one,' he said.

A furrow appeared between Remus' eyebrows. 'What do you mean?' he asked.

Sirius reached into his robes and pulled out a large bottle. He held it up in the air. The bottle was dusty, but the glint of its ruby contents was unmistakeable. A neat maroon label was wrapped around the bottle.

Remus' jaw dropped. 'Firewhiskey?' he rasped.

Sirius waggled his eyebrows. 'I figured since we weren't too successful last time around, we'd get one for this month.'

'Where did you get it?' A disapproving frown was etched on Remus' face.

'Ask me no questions, Moony, and I'll tell you no lies.'

James rolled his eyes. 'Come off it. Padfoot here just paid a bloke double the galleons to buy it for him. After last month's run in, the codger who runs the Hog's Head gets shifty-eyed whenever he strolls in.'

Sirius gave a careless shrug. 'I got the Firewhiskey, didn't I? Now quit your whining and Transfigure me some goblets. I'm going to crack it open.'

James grinned and picked up a few shavings of wood that were discarded on the floor after Remus' transformation the month earlier. He tapped each shard once with his wand and muttered the spell under his breath before passing the goblets to each of his mates. Peter hesitated before taking his goblet in his hands.

'Drink up, Wormtail,' said Sirius, holding his goblet up in the air. 'You only live once.'

Remus gave a reluctant smile, rolling his eyes as though to say, 'how I ever became mates with you lot, I'll never know'. Then he raised his goblet as well.

There was a pause, and then the resounding clink of four glasses.

* * *

It was quite fortunate that no witch or wizard was taking a casual stroll past the Shrieking Shack, because an hour later, Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs were certainly a sight to behold.

It was bizarre enough to see a large, black dog stumble out of the Shrieking Shake, or the stag, with a rat on its antlers, burst its way into the opening, but it was the wolf that followed behind, more than anything, that would have made any passers-by do a great double-take.

Moony was on his hind legs, strolling forward with ease. He had a wolfish grin on his face, and had the neck of his goblet held delicately between his sharp teeth as he whistled and swayed to his own beat.

Padfoot made a swipe at him, and the goblet came crashing down to the floor. Moony froze and narrowed his eyes, but this only resulted in a bark of laughter from Padfoot.

Everything about the night seemed infinite. They were together, the four of them, on the last full moon night of their fifth year. The school year was coming to a resounding end, and they had Firewhiskey to commemorate the occasion; and even though no one had said or done anything particularly funny, all four of them, in their very tipsy state, were in stiches with hysterical laughter.

They had managed to stumble onto the empty, yet exposed Main Street in a clumsy and rather unwise move, and were guffawing at an oddly shaped shrub across from Honeydukes when Moony froze.

Out from the Three Broomsticks was a middle-aged couple. They were laughing, arm in arm with bottles of Butterbeer in their hands.

Moony twitched.

'Look, honey,' said the man, nudging the pretty woman next to him and pointing at Padfoot. 'It's a doggie.'

A low rumbling emitting from Moony's snout. His lips began to separate, revealing a white wall of sharp fangs.

Prongs tensed. 'Moony?'

The rumbling grew louder. Little bits of spittle began to make its way out from in between Moony's fangs.

'Moony,' squeaked Wormtail, crawling across Prongs' antlers towards Moony's huddled figure.

Moony began to shake. The couple standing outside the Three Broomsticks was oblivious—they were laughing about a joke the woman had said now, and were making their way casually to the end of the street.

'Moony!' barked Padfoot.

Moony lunged, and many things happened at once.

The woman shrieked; her partner's eyes went wide. He began to stutter and as Moony approached at top speed, he dropped the woman's hand and began to run in the opposite direction. Prongs gallowed forward with every intent of tackling Moony, but it was Padfoot who rammed him from the side, mere feet away from the woman, who was now backing away and fumbling through her robes for her wand. Moony slammed into the solid stone wall opposite the Three Broomsticks, giving Padfoot enough time to turn to the shaking woman and say, 'Nice bloke, that boyfriend of yours'. His voice came out in a dog's bark, but it was enough for the woman to give off yet another shriek and run off in the direction of her cowardly mate.

Padfoot did not have enough time to chuckle and appreciate the comedy of the scene, because Moony was on his feet in the next instance, and charging towards him at top speed. The force of the impact of nearly two hundred pounds of muscle sent Padfoot back, smashing his head against the ground, and he crumpled immediately at the foot of Honeydukes' door, soundly unconscious.

'Padfoot,' squeaked Wormtail, scurrying down Prongs' back to tend to his mate.

'Moony!' roared Prongs. 'But the stag's roar, which had usually managed to calm Moony down, only served to anger him further tonight. Moony's lips were stretched over his teeth and sticky saliva was dripping down his chin. His yellow eyes were piercing and palms were clenching and unclenching, revealing sharp claws. He was panting and growling, rearing his legs back in preparation of an attack.

'Moony,' called Prongs cautiously, and the two of them began to circle one another, searching for an opening. 'Moony, what's happened to you? It's me, it's Prongs.'

Moony swiped a paw over his snout, growling. He paused and the dark clouds above him parted slightly, just enough to reveal the brilliant silver of the moon pulsing behind him. Moony gave a loud, resounding howl.

Prongs charged. His antlers caught under Moony's chin and lifted him clear off the ground with what looked like little effort. Prongs reared back, preparing for yet another tackle, but in his haste, he lost sight of Moony's fast approaching claws until they sliced clean across his middle.

Prongs roared with pain, his eyes momentarily blinded. Moony squeaked loudly in protest. There was crimson blood everywhere. Moony was advancing, Prongs was retreating, and consciousness was slowly leaving him as dark spots filled his eyes.

The last thing Prongs saw before he collapsed was Moony standing on his hind legs and holding still. His snout was twitching as though testing the air tentatively, and then he was bounding off in the opposite direction, retreating into the forest, as Prongs' head hit the stone ground below.

* * *

When James came to, he was human again.

He attempted to sit up, with his arms propping him up from behind as he surveyed the situation, momentarily confused as to where he was and what time it was. He saw the blood first. Then came the pain.

James groaned and collapsed.

'Shit!'

'Oi, don't move!'

'Wormtail?'

From through the bushes came Peter Pettigrew. He appeared shabby, as though he'd been roughed up, but apart from that, seemed in good health.

'You took a hit, mate,' said Peter, nodding to James' stomach. 'It's pretty bad. I dragged you off the street. Away from people, you know. Brought you to this oak tree, it looked like it'd be good cover.'

James ran a hand over his midsection. From his side to his belly button was a large horizontal gash. James swore.

'I tried everything,' said Peter, his voice shaking. 'But you know I'm no good at healing spells, James, I can't make it stop bleeding.'

James winced, rolling to his side. 'It's okay,' he gasped. 'Where's my wand?'

Peter withdrew it from his robes. 'I found it on the ground next to you once you clocked out,' he said.

'Where'd Moony go?' croaked James as he reached for his wand and tapped his middle with it.

'Not sure,' responded Peter, sitting with crossed legs across from James and wiping the sweat off his brow. 'But I think he's smelled something, the way he was standing. I nearly gnawed Padfoot's ear off, trying to get him up to go after him.'

James swore again. 'What'd he smell?'

Peter shook his head. 'I'm not sure. But he's off today. I think it might have been the Firewhiskey. Moony's smell senses are doubled, at least. I think he may have smelt a human.'

'What?' roared James. He winced again from the pain, tapping his wand against the wound once more.

Peter sunk his head in his hands. 'We messed up, Prongs. We messed up real bad. There are too many people in Hogsmeade. And Moony—he's not himself. Padfoot's tracking him now. He's got a better sense of smell than either of us, so if anyone could find Moony, it's him.'

'Damn,' cursed James, tossing his wand aside. 'I can't do it. Bloody wound won't heal.' He attempted sit up, pressing his right hand flat over the gash and using his left to help prop him up. 'I need to go after them. Before Moony does something he's going to regret.'

Wormtail jumped to his feet, reaching for his own wand. 'Let me try to heal it again. I can do it, I know I can.'

He scrunched his face up in concentration. Sweat glistened from his face. He tapped James' middle with his wand.

'_Vulnera Sanentur!_' he hissed.

There was a red-hot flash and from the edges of the wound, working its way to meet in the middle grew a very thin layer of pink skin. Peter gave a whoop.

'Look, mate! Look, I did it!'

James grimaced. 'Nice job, Wormtail.' He made to sit up again, but the small movement must have been too much, because the skin gave way almost immediately, revealing the deep gash once again and allowing more dark blood to flow.

Peter sunk to the ground. 'I'm sorry, Prongs. I tried.'

James pressed his hand to his side hard, stopping the blood flow. 'It must be because Moony's a werewolf—permanent or something, it would just figure.'

'Let's just try to make it to the castle,' said Peter nervously. 'Pomfrey's brilliant. And she never asks shifty questions, I think we can do it.'

'Okay.' James pushed himself up with a bloody hand, biting down hard on the inside of his cheek as he fought through the pain. 'Let's go.' He took a step and found himself crumpling the next second.

'Ah, never mind,' said Peter with a moan. 'Forget it. It's a long walk, and let's face it—you're a mess. You're losing blood fast, and at this rate, you'll pass out by the time we reach Honeydukes.'

'Fine—go back to the Shack—my Invisibility Cloak, I left it there right before we transformed.'

'What good'll that do us? Moony seeks by scent. The Cloak doesn't hide scents, Prongs!' Peter's voice had raised an octave.

'We're in trouble, Wormtail,' said James, settling down. 'I just hope that Padfoot's found Moony and is holding him down somehow. With the amount of human blood around us now, we're an easy target.'

'Don't worry, mate,' said Peter, fingering his wand. He tightened his grip. 'I've still got a wand. I'm here.'

* * *

It was moments like these when Padfoot resented Hogsmeade's large and colourful population. As he stuck his snout to the stone tiles below him and sifted through at least a dozen different scents in order to single out a mere trace of werewolf, he cursed the Hogsmeade inhabitants soundly.

When Peter had bitten him away, Padfoot was only able to register the fact that his head was throbbing painfully. It was only when Peter had squeaked with panic at him that he jumped onto all fours and bounded down the main street in search for Moony.

But the search had been a long one. If Padfoot though that tracking down a two hundred pound wolf was going to be an easy task, he was sorely mistaken. In fact, Padfoot had been across Hogsmeade and back at least twice now, and still had not managed to find a single trace of his werewolf friend. And the alcohol he'd consumed earlier did nothing to aid his tracking skills—every scent was heightened, and Padfoot found himself distracted by the scent of peppermints wafting from Honeydukes and masking all other odours. He gave a loud, frustrated bark.

'Moony!'

He was met with decisive silence. Padfoot slumped upon the ground with a groan. Perhaps Moony had retreated into the depths of the Forbidden Forest. But Wormtail's urgency when he'd recounted what had happened while he had been unconscious seemed to suggest otherwise. Moony had taken off at the scent of a human.

Padfoot wondered what was happening back with Wormtail. Prongs had been hit fairly hard, and neither he nor Padfoot were any good with healing spells.

It had become a mere race against time. If they could manage to last until sunrise without suffering casualties, they would be alright.

It was only when that particular thought struck him that Padfoot heard the loud, unmistakeable growl of the werewolf.

Padfoot leapt to his feet and bounded toward the sound. A cold chill of fear slid down his back as he attempted to sort through scents and sounds. There was another—a more familiar one, though he couldn't quite place it—Padfoot shook his head rapidly to clear it. It was still throbbing—he was going to sleep for twelve hours straight if they ever got through this one.

When he stopped galloping, he realized that'd come come in full circle. At the edge of the forest, Moony was advancing towards Wormtail—or rather, Peter. Peter had a gash in his left year that was dripping with blood. He held out his wand unsteadily, retreating with slow steps. Behind him, James was slumped on the ground, unconscious.

Moony attacked, and for a frightful instance, Padfoot's heart leaped out of his chest. Peter held his wand out resolutely, his eyes shut, waiting for the blow—

But it never came. At the last minute, Moony missed completely, rebounding instead off the tree to Peter's right. Peter recovered instantly and shot a Stunning spell that hit Moony square on the forehead, but failed to Stun nevertheless. Padfoot's mental faculties resumed working order, and with adrenaline pumping through his veins, he charged at Moony in a full-on tackle.

The attack, unexpected to both Moony and Peter, resulted in a painful grunt from the former and a strangled cry from the latter.

Peter froze, eyes wide with fear until he realized that it was Padfoot, only Padfoot, who'd returned.

'I'm taking him into the forest! Watch James!' barked Padfoot, and without stopping to consider the fact that Peter was now human, and could not possible comprehend his dog barks, he bounded off through the forest with Moony's collar secure between his jaws.

Peter gave a whimper. Perhaps it was because he had not slept that night. Perhaps it was because he'd feared for his life and the life of his mates since midnight. Perhaps it was because the stress of the situation, now that he was safe, was now dawning on him in its full glory. But the minute Moony and Padfoot disappeared into the forest, Peter swayed dangerously and fell, fainted upon the floor.

* * *

'Wormtail. Wormtail!'

Peter's eyes opened groggily. 'What do you want?' he murmured.

'Wormtail—wake up, you idiot—'

'Prongs?' Peter sat up quickly, whipping his head around. 'James,' he said, his voice hoarse. 'What happ—where the hell are we?'

'Same place we were for the past six hours,' said James bracingly. 'What do you thi—'

Peter scratched the back of his head idly, taking in his surroundings. His eyes drifted to James' exposed wound.

'Oi—James, you're stomach, it's—'

James' midsection was no longer emitting blood. A thin layer of skin had made its way across, though unlike the case with Peter's previous efforts with healing, it did not seem as though it were going to break at any moment.

James pressed his hand to his stomach and pulled away. His hands were clean of blood. 'Thanks a lot, mate. Whatever you did, it must have helped. It's not bleeding anymore.'

Peter stared. 'I did that?' he asked, his voice barely audible.

'Who else?' said James with a grin. 'I knew I could count on you, Wormtail. Thanks for watching out for me.'

Peter blinked, appearing wonderstruck. 'I did—I mean, I tried—but—it just kept bleeding when I tried to heal it.'

James clapped him on the back. 'Maybe all it needed was some time,' he said.

When Padfoot and Remus finally approached them, the morning had taken on a rather misty appearance. Remus had finally regained his human form, and trotting next to him in a slight limp was Padfoot, still retaining his Animagus. Padfoot became Sirius in mid-walk as he neared James and Peter.

'Oi.'

James got to his feet to greet his mate. 'Long time no see,' he said with a grin.

'Bloody hell,' said Remus, as he surveyed the blood on James' shirt. 'You're—'

James waved him off, lifting up the hem of his shirt to reveal the healing wound on his side. 'It's nothing,' he said. 'Wormtail healed it for me.'

Sirius clapped Peter on the back. 'Nice one, mate.'

'Not one of your better nights, eh, Moony?' asked Peter with a grin.

Remus shook his head, though the humour on the faces of his three mates was absent on his.

'Hey, it's okay,' said James easily. 'These things happen. We knew what we signed up for when we decided to become Animagi. Don't worry about it.'

'Who was that, by the way?' said Peter. 'You ran off halfway through kicking Prongs' arse. We thought you found yourself a human or something.'

'He doesn't remember,' said Sirius, with a shrug. 'He's been moping about it ever since he turned back to human. But it's not making it through to his thick skull that whoever the human was, he lived. Moony didn't have the scent of blood on him, apart from Prongs, of course.'

'Sorry about that, by the way, James,' said Remus.

'Always a pleasure,' returned James.

Remus sunk his head into his hands with a groan. 'I could have hurt someone—'

'You couldn't have,' insisted Padfoot. 'Because this,' he tapped his nose, 'doesn't lie, mate.'

'But I don't remember anything—_anything_—'

James started. 'Yeah? But you usually remember something—blurs, at least—'

'—I think it was the alcohol!' Remus cried wildly. 'It—it messed me up—'

'—that's ridiculous,' said Sirius, 'You barely had any—We split the bottle between the four of us—'

'You don't understand, Sirius,' said Moony. 'It was different for me! Usually, when I'm with you lot, at least, I have some kind of control. And because I have that level of control, I'm able to retain my memory of some of the events the morning after. But now—I just—I can't remember anything. At all! All I remember is McGonagall leading me to the Shrieking Shack—'

'You know what it is, Moony?' said Sirius, as he tossed his arm around Remus' shoulder. 'What you're going through is just a common phase that every young man goes through.'

'What?' asked Remus incredulously. 'Murderer's guilt?'

'Of course not,' said Sirius, punching him playfully and throwing his arms behind his head. 'A hangover.'

James, Sirius and Peter roared with laughter, and soon, with the events having already passed, and the results having turned out so favourably, Remus found himself joining in. They laughed merrily, all troubles forgotten; any pain they'd suffered, any worries, any sleep they might have lost—all forgotten in the company of comrades.

James glanced briefly back at the oak tree before he departed, taking in its protective cover, the solace it had provided that night. He smiled, almost as though to thank it, and clapping Sirius on the back, they strolled to the Shrieking Shack to make it back into the castle before breakfast commenced. ('Some pumpkin juice will do your hangover some good, Moony.' 'Shut up, Padfoot.')

* * *

Twenty minutes passed.

And when she was sure that they'd all disappeared, Lily Evans removed Potter's Invisibility Cloak, and emerged from behind the oak tree, running a shaky hand through her auburn hair.


End file.
